Saudade
by AriMalfoy1
Summary: Arianwen was always there for him, until she wasn't. Four years after the War, Draco is still struggling to fit in. His Dark Mark, once a status symbol, now brands him the scum of society. Despite his attempts to move on and get his life back on track, she's always on his mind - so near yet so far. (Sequel to Changes in Circumstance but can be read standalone) M for sexual content.
1. Chapter One: The Half of It

**A/N: Well hello everyone and welcome to my new story, Saudade. For those that haven't heard the word 'saudade' before, it's a Portuguese word that describes "a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never return." Hopefully, as the chapters progress, you'll come to agree that it is the perfect word to describe this fic!**

 **This is a sequel to Changes In Circumstance but can be read as a standalone fic without reading the first one. If you're new to this series, Arianwen and Draco met in school and had a very deep but tempestuous relationship due to being on different sides of the war. They were both in Slytherin in school but Arianwen is from a noble family in Wales that Lucius disapproves of. Draco felt he should break up with Arianwen in order to keep her at a distance from Voldemort, but they reunited after the war. This story picks up about 4 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, so they're around 22 and their son Llewyn is 5.**

 **I hope you're all enjoying the holidays and have a bit of spare time to read my first chapter and let me know your thoughts and questions. Now, on to the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter One: The Half of It**

"Hold him down! Hold him down for Merlin's sake!" Arianwen shouted at the three aurors who'd brought the patient in.

"We're trying!" One of the men, Ron Weasley, bit back while wrestling with the man's flailing legs. Finally they managed to hold him still enough that Arianwen could pour the Calming Draught down his throat, massaging his throat in one hand and holding his head down with the other. She watched as the mania slid from his eyes, a look of dull apathy replacing it instead.

"There we are Mr.-" Arianwen looked at the aurors. "Have we got a name?"

"It's Dion Pritchard, ma'am." Answered the big burly one Arianwen knew as 'Stephens'.

She nodded. "Right then Mr Pritchard, you're in St Mungo's, in the Emergency Unit. We're going to be keeping an eye on you until the substance you've taken leaves your system, understand?"

"I don't take orders from no one you silly fucking…" his words tailed off into incoherent mumbles, the Calming Draught taking a firm hold of him.

"Charming." Arianwen retorted. Sighing, she addressed the nurses hovering behind the aurors: "Jenkins, Pitman, pop Mr. Pritchard in the corner bed please, he'll need straps on his arms and legs. If you can clean him up a bit as well, I'll just see to these aurors and then I'll be over to heal him up."

"Okay then," Arianwen clapped her hands together and surveyed the three worn out men before her, "which of you wants to go first?"

"Actually ma'am I need to get this report sent off but I haven't got a clue what that idiot has taken. Can we sort that first?" Stephens butted in.

"Ah yes, of course. Mr. Pritchard appears to have overdosed on powdered Tooth of the Kelpie, or 'Yaga' as it's known on the streets."

The three aurors exchanged bemused glances. The skinny one, Entwistle, scratched the back of his balding head, a practised habit that presumably at some point would stimulate bright ideas. "Never heard of it." He admitted, his hand dropping back down in defeat.

"I'm not too surprised by that," she condoled, "it's a pretty rare one and extremely expensive for that reason. 'Yaga' can be taken in a number of ways, the most popular way being to snort the powder. But if you look at Mr. Pritchard here you can see that there are a number of cuts on his forearms where he's mixed the powder directly into the wounds. The venom within the powder can then actually bind to the blood cells and give the user a much faster and intense high, the effects of which are erratic and violent behaviour. And as evidenced by Mr. Pritchard, you can see that it's incredibly easy for users to overdose using this method of delivery."

"Merlin!" Ron breathed. "So how long before it's out of his system?"

"Hard to say at this point, I'll need to assess him properly but usually Yaga will have left the system within about 3-5 days. His withdrawal and initial recovery period could last as long as three months though, so he'll need to be kept in confinement once he's passed crisis stage."

"Thank you, Healer Gwydion." Entwistle nodded to her and bent over the 'Emergency/Dangerous Admissions' report with Stephens. Ron hung back, looking at Arianwen with ill-disguised curiosity.

"How come you know so much about this powdered tooth thing then? We've never even heard of it and we're trained in illegal substance abuse!"

Arianwen sighed, her eyes falling on the self-inflicted cuts covering her patient's forearms, her mind drifting back to the night before she broke up with Draco.

* * *

 _One Year Ago_

 _Arianwen rolled over in bed, her eyes opening begrudgingly as she woke from a shallow slumber. The fire hadn't quite put itself out yet so she knew the time must be somewhere between 2am and 4am._

 _"Fuck!" The slurred cry of her absent boyfriend sounded down the hall, accompanied by some almighty bangs and a worrying smash._

 _"Oh for god's sake, not the crystal again!" She muttered to herself, hurrying down the hall. His hands were too clumsy when he was like this, and she thought she'd hidden all of the crystal bottles! Apparently not._

 _"Draco!" He was hunched over some parchment on her desk._

 _"I thought," he started, his voice low, violent, "that you told me you hadn't been bad mouthing me to your friends."_

 _"What?" Arianwen walked forward cautiously. "I haven't been bad mouthing you!"_

 _"I know she's lying to me!" He muttered, his hands scrunching around the parchment. "Shut up! I know!'_

 _"Draco, I haven't said anything bad about you to anyone. That letter you're holding is a thank you note for the wedding gift we gave the Goyles."_

 _"DON"T LIE TO ME!" He swung around and staggered towards her. "I've seen what they say about me, they want you to leave me, they think I'm pathetic, they think you'd be better without me-"_

 _"Draco nooo," Arianwen pleaded, she took his hands gently and tried to peel the parchment out. "Look. See? It says 'thank you so much for the beautiful glasses', nothing bad at all!"_

 _"What? Huh?" His brow furrowed, the waxy skin contorting on his forehead. "I know!" He told the voices in his head again, squeezing his hands together painfully._

 _"Draco darling, I can see you're in pain, why don't you let me help you?" She begged, her voice unsteady._

 _"Help-help me how? What are you going to do to me?" He wouldn't look her in the eyes, his attention darting all across the room behind her. "What are they going to do? They're coming for me aren't they?"_

 _Arianwen gulped, placing her hands on his chest as firmly as she dared. "Who can you see?"_

 _"No," he muttered, "no, no no! It can't be!" His eyes snapped straight on to hers, his expression altered immediately into something terrifying, possessed. "It was you wasn't it?"_

 _She gasped and stepped back, alarmed by the strength of rage in his gaze. "Wha-"_

 _"YOU told them to come after me didn't you? You told them to kill me!" He roared. Before she could so much as open her mouth to deny it he'd crossed the gap between them and closed his fist around her throat._

 _"Stop!" She tried to scream but the hold he had on her throat only allowed for a hoarse groan. She clambered backwards, managing to break free from him for just a second before he was on her again, knocking her off balance into a mirror on the wall, its pieces shattering around her._

 _A familiar scream distracted them both, but it was much nearer than usual, just in the doorway. "Llewyn!" Arianwen struggled free of Draco and rushed towards the door. "Go back to bed baby," she said hurriedly, pushing him out into the corridor. Draco was shouting again, trying to push past her to their child._

 _"SHUT UP!" He yelled. "Make that fucking mongrel shut up!"_

 _"Bed!" Arianwen shouted at Llewyn. "Now!" She slammed the doors shut and bolted them from the outside, she and her four year old on one side and Draco on the other - a weak barrier but a barrier nonetheless. He continued to crash about for another few hours before he finally burned himself out and passed out into a deep slumber, pitifully unaware that it would be his last in that house._

* * *

Draco pulled his cloak tighter around him, the last of the winter rain lashing against his face. As corny as he knew it was, he couldn't help but allow the bad whether reflect his mood and swore at a woman in front of him for blocking his way. "Damn unobservant muggles!" He growled under his breath.

He glanced around carefully as he approached the disused department store and, when satisfied no one was watching, he murmured: "I'm here for the Emergency Unit" and stepped through the glass. Having weaved through the crowds with some success, he arrived at the unit just five minutes later.

"Weasley," he greeted upon entering, "I'm here for the-"

"Here to see what real work looks like are you, Malfoy?" Stephens called, nudging Entwistle as he did. Entwistle, who disliked Draco just as much as the rest of the Auror Department, laughed harshly at him.

"I'm here for the report." Draco replied evenly.

Stephens' eyes glimmered with delight. "What, you're a glorified owl now is it?" He mocked.

"Nah they don't send out owls when the storms are this strong, they're too important to spare, he's just the office bitch, no glory in that!" Entwistle piped up, gaining a round of merciless laughter in response.

Ron, who still hated Malfoy with a passion, pointed at a curtained-off bed in the corner. "The Healer's got the report, you'll have to sit over there and wait for her to finish."

Draco nodded curtly, then sat himself down in the uncomfortably straight chair next to the bed curtain, his back to the others. He could hear voices on the other side of the curtain, a woman crying and another one comforting her.

"It's all my fault!" The woman was blubbering. "I shouldn't have moved out and left him on his own!"

"Now now," the Healer soothed, "there's no point in blaming yourself. He put you in an awful position-"

"-but I was his last hope! His wife chucked him out of their house and none of his kids wanted anything to do with him. Our parents live abroad and he doesn't really have any friends anymore so I took him in. But he just seemed to get worse and worse," she confided desperately, as though trying to justify herself to the Healer," and he'd be so destructive, I was so scared he would- well it doesn't matter," she sobbed, "I still shouldn't have given up."

"This was not your fault, Maria, please don't cry." He heard quick footsteps and then the curtain was thrown open to reveal a very tired looking Arianwen Gwydion. Draco's stomach jerked nastily, heat rising to his cheeks. "Jenkins, will you fetch some tissues please?" She called out.

"Here!" The eager nurse handed her a box almost instantly. Arianwen spun back around to re-enter the cubicle, her eyes passing over Draco as she went. She faltered.

"I'm here for the report." Draco muttered, nodding his head towards the patient lying unconscious on the bed.

"Right." Arianwen replied awkwardly. "Give me two minutes."

She returned to the lady she'd been comforting. "Here you are dear. Now, I need you to understand that you did the right thing in taking your brother to the facility. You did everything you could to help him but he was too far down his destructive path to want to accept it."

"Really?" Maria sniffed.

"Yes." She said firmly. "When a user becomes addicted to Yaga they stop noticing the kind of mellowing effects it's supposed to give and instead start to experience delusions such as voices in their head, which leads them to become very paranoid. This paranoia, as in the case of your brother, Mr. Pritchard, can manifest as violence, as the only people the user trusts are the ones talking in their head. The voices tell the user to keep taking the drug but the user's loved ones say to stop - so you can see how the aggression starts through all that confusion."

Maria nodded vehemently. "Yes it was just like that! And then he started hurting himself - cutting himself, and when I tried to get him to stop he would turn the knife on me! But he was so apologetic in the morning, he would cry and promise me he'd change-"

"But he'd always do it again. Yeah, I know." Arianwen said solemnly. Draco's hands started to shake - how dare she?! And in front of his colleagues! "Why don't you sit for a while, Maria, and I'll finish off this report for the Auror." She made a few more notes and signed at the bottom. Flipping the binder closed, she attempted to pass it to Draco but he jerked his head towards the ward doors, telling her silently to follow him out. The eyes of his colleagues followed them, knowing smirks on their faces.

Once outside, he turned on her. "What the _fuck_ was that?" He hissed, not wanting to attract any more attention than they already had.

"What was what?" Arianwen asked simply, folding her arms over her chest.

"That little speech you gave the woman in there!" He growled. "You make a habit of telling people to ditch their families do you?"

"That wasn't about you," she sighed.

"Yeah? Could've fooled me. 'Oh _Maria_ , how selfless you were to give up your precious time to look after your sick brother! How inconvenient of him to not recover instantly!' Sounds pretty fucking familiar to me! Is that what you tell yourself at night to make you feel better for throwing me out when I was at my absolute lowest?"

Arianwen was so ready for a fight, her posture rigid, her jaw tense, but she forced herself not to rise to it. "I don't have time for this, Draco, I have work to do."

"Fuck you!" Draco spat. "Is that how little you care that you won't even talk about it?"

"I'm letting you see your son, aren't I?" She snapped back. "What more do you want from me?"

He shook his head, stepping backwards like she was armed. "Whatever, I don't need this crap from you." He tucked the report under his arm. "I'll see you Saturday." And walked away.

"Yeah, why don't you try being on time for this one!" She yelled childishly at his retreating form but, to her utter irritation, all she got in the return was the back of his middle finger.

"Ucgh!" She dug her fingers into her hair, squeezing at the root to calm herself down. If only he knew the half of it.


	2. Chapter Two: An Olive Branch

**A/N: Happy New Year!**

 **Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it's so so good to get feedback when the story is so young! There was a bit of a theme around your concerns that Draco and Arianwen's happy ending didn't last long - all I can say for now is don't worry, it won't be doom and gloom forever! I just imagined that after the War society would struggle to let people like Draco back into their every day lives. I think there would be quite a bit of hate out there for him, not to mention that he was locked up in Azkaban for a few months at the end of Changes in Circumstance, that's enough to scar someone I would say. So this story was basically born from the idea that he would've had some struggles with addiction, exacerbated by the pressure of being a young parent and not being accepted by his peers.**

 **Don't forget to follow/favourite so you don't miss any updates! Thank you to all the lovely people who have done so already.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: An Olive Branch**

"Hey Daddy, look!" A piece of parchment was shoved enthusiastically into Draco's hands. He unfurled it and squinted at the weird assortment of brown blobs.

"Oh wow, this is wonderful!" Draco lied, feigning utmost delight at the picture.

"Buggo!" The small blonde boy announced happily.

"Oh riiight," Draco groaned, "Buggo the bear! Well I think this might just be the best Buggo portrait I've ever seen, good job buddy."

Llewyn beamed, a little chuckle escaping his lips. "I'm going to give it to Mammy."

Narcissa, who'd just re-entered the Malfoy's play room with some drinks, gasped in faux-marvel at her grandson's latest creation. "Your mother is going to love that, Llewyn. Aren't you thoughtful!"

Llewyn didn't respond, too distracted by trying to climb onto Draco's lap. After a few failed attempts, he slumped down on the floor and huffed unhappily. "Come on then." Draco laughed, pulling Llewyn up and allowing him to wriggle into a comfortable position against his chest.

"Daddy," Llewyn said seriously, "do you think Papa Bear misses Buggo?"

Draco exchanged a glance with Narcissa; in Buggo's latest adventure book, Papa Bear had to travel far away to go fishing to feed his family. Hopefully he wasn't intending to make the connection.

"Of course he does," Draco soothed, kissing Llewyn on the head, "I bet he thinks about Buggo every day and can't wait to come back and play with him, but he's got to go and bring back a tasty big fish for them to gobble first."

"Buggo likes fish." Llewyn stated matter-of-factly, seemingly satisfied with his father's explanation. The sound of clock chimes came from the hallway, prompting Narcissa to clap her hands together in shock.

"Oh my, it's already five o'clock. You'd better go and put your shoes on Llewyn, dear, your mother won't be happy if you're late for tea!"

Draco sighed, his visits with Llewyn always went by so quickly, not helped by the fact that they had to be supervised by Narcissa. At least he got to see him though…if only for one afternoon per week.

* * *

 _A few months ago_

 _Autumn had truly come. There were leaves absolutely everywhere, not helped by Llewyn picking up fistfuls from the piles the Ministry gardeners had made and throwing them up in the air to see where they'd land._

 _"Look Mammy, snowing!" The small boy clapped happily, then galloped over to another pile to wreak a smidge more damage._

 _They were at the Ministry's 316th Annual Gnome Bagging event, whereby families could come along and try to bag the gnomes running wild in the gardens - most gnomes bagged would win a prize, usually a holiday of some sort. Whilst the vast majority of guests didn't actually bother to join in, it was still a fun opportunity to gather together and eat caramelised treats._

 _Arianwen smiled as a pile of leaves exploded into the air, some happy squeals accompanying them. A smile that quickly faded when a cough from behind her made her jump slightly and spin around. Her heart leapt as her eyes landed on-_

 _Him._

 _Nobody said anything for what felt like days until a small squeal of excitement jolted him into action._

 _"Is that-?"_

 _"Llewyn." Arianwen interrupted. "Yeah."_

 _Draco stared after the trail of leaves but couldn't make out his son. "How is he?" He asked instead._

 _Arianwen pawed at the ground with her shoe, unsure what to make of all the feelings that had rushed to the fore; it had been so long since she'd last seen him, almost six months. "He's fine. Doing well actually." She eventually managed._

 _"That's good." Draco paused awkwardly. Could she not even look him in the eye? "And how are you doing?"_

 _She couldn't look at him; she'd cry, she'd say she'd missed him every single day, that time hadn't made it easier at all - if anything the longer it went without him the more she needed him. "I've been fine too."_

 _Another pause. "Look, Ri-"_

 _Arianwen's head flew up at the sound of his old nickname for her._

 _He seemed to pick up on her surprise. "Sorry, I meant 'Arianwen'. Look - I know I fucked up. I let everything after the War get on top of me, I partied too much, I drank too much, and I definitely took too many drugs - but what I didn't do was stop loving my little boy."_

 _Tears started forming in Arianwen's eyes but even so she couldn't seem to break their gaze. "I want to see him, I have a right to see him." He continued._

 _"A right?" Arianwen questioned hotly. "You think you have a right - after everything?"_

 _"Yes! I have a job now, a steady job; I completed rehab and I haven't touched any…of that…in months." He insisted._

 _"You got really bad Draco, really bad. I doubt you can even remember can you?"_

 _Draco focused hard on not biting back. It was so easy for her to blame him but she was the one who'd left him high and dry and took Llewyn out of his life. Surely she wasn't so blind that she couldn't see how much that would damage him. They were the only thing keeping him going and then they were gone - and he stopped going._

 _"Can't we make this about how I am now? Please Arianwen, I'm doing everything I can to prove to you that I'm better. I just want to see my son."_

 _Merlin, his eyes, did they have to be so- "Okay. But only if you're supervised by Narcissa."_

 _"Yes, of course, fine!" He grinned, completely shocked that she actually agreed. "When can we start?"_

 _Arianwen looked back to where Llewyn was now chasing a gnome around some bushes, then back to his father. "You can have him on Saturday at midday but I want Narcissa there to pick him up and drop him off. And I want him back by 5.30pm at the latest."_

 _"5.30pm at the latest, got it." He moved forward instinctively, then realised she wouldn't want him to touch her. "Thank you," he said instead, and before she could take it back, he said his goodbyes and walked away._

 _As happy as he was about the prospect of seeing his boy again, it didn't mask the tangled feeling of disappointment that was plaguing him. He'd imagined how that conversation would go so many times, each one ending in some cringey admission of love and Arianwen jumping into his arms - every past mistake forgotten. But instead, she said she'd been fine without him and couldn't even bring herself to look at him for more than a second at a time._

 _Fine without him, like their relationship could be forgotten just like that. He'd just have to forget it too._

* * *

They arrived at Myddfai House not long after 5.30pm; they could've been earlier but Narcissa insisted it was rude to floo straight into the house and made them floo to the gate house on the edge of the grounds instead, where they could get a carriage up to the main house. Arianwen answered the door after a short delay. Her house elf, Betsy, had died a few years prior and she hadn't had the heart to replace her yet. She greeted them all with a smile.

"Hello sweetheart," Arianwen laughed as Llewyn leaped into her arms the second she opened the door, "have you had a nice day?"

"Yeah," Llewyn said simply, nuzzling his face into his mother's neck.

"What did you get up to?" She asked, half to Llewyn and half to his dad.

"We did some artwork." Draco said. His hands were firmly stuffed in his pockets, a common demonstration of his discomfort. They hadn't seen each other since their argument at St Mungo's and he wasn't entirely sure how to act around her; on the one hand, he was still annoyed about what she said to the patient's sister, but on the other he just wanted everything to be easy between them, for Llewyn's sake if not his own. "Why don't you show your mother what you made for her?" He prompted Llewyn.

The little boy almost ripped the parchment in his excitement to get it from his pocket and into his mother's hand. Arianwen squinted and tilted her head to one side, after a few silent moments Llewyn couldn't take this excitement anymore and blurted, "Do you like him?"

"Him?" Arianwen asked, bemused. She rotated the parchment, tilting her head to either side to try and figure out what the different sized blobs were supposed to resemble.

Draco couldn't help but laugh at her efforts, but covered it with a cough when she looked up. She gave him a look as if to say 'help!' And, with a laugh, he said: "it's Buggo the Bear!"

"Oh! A bear! Of course." She pointed to some lines on the picture. "Those must be his claws."

"No Mammy, silly!" Llewyn shook his head at her. "Those his whiskers."

Arianwen raised her eyebrows, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Ah yes, whiskers…the defining characteristic of a bear." Draco let out another laugh, his eyes sparkling. "Why don't you go and put it in the kitchen for me, and then you can get ready for dinner?"

"Is Daddy staying?" He asked hopefully.

"No, honey, not tonight." Arianwen said softly, not making eye contact with either of the Malfoy's. "But if you hurry and put your drawing in the kitchen for me you can come and give your Daddy and Mamgu a big hug before you go." Okay!" He exclaimed, and scurried off towards the kitchen.

Arianwen smiled at his retreating back, then turned back to Draco awkwardly.

"I want him overnight." He said firmly.

"Draco!" Narcissa scolded. "You can't just make demands like that! Arianwen, you don't have to agree, dear."

Draco glared at his mother and was just about to argue back when Arianwen jumped in.

"I think he would like that." She said, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Wait, what?" He'd been expecting to have to fight for it, he had a whole speech prepared.

"I think it would be good for you to see each other more, so yes, you can have him overnight. How about on Wednesdays? And then you can continue the day visits on Saturdays?"

Narcissa stepped forward and placed a hand on Arianwen's arm. She fixed her with a concerned expression. "Are you sure?" She asked quietly, as though Draco wasn't there.

"Mother, seriously?" He was so annoyed he didn't even know what to say. Why didn't she want him to see his own son?!

"I'm sure," Arianwen replied to Narcissa, both women too busy having some kind of silent conversation to listen to Draco's protests. "So," Arianwen said, looking back at Draco, "do Wednesdays suit?"

He breathed in deeply. Now was not the time to have words with his mother, at least Arianwen was offering him an olive branch, perhaps some of what he'd said the other day had got through to her.

"Wednesdays would be perfect."

* * *

Arianwen rapped loudly on the shiny red door in Godrick's Hollow for the second time. "Come on!" She muttered mutinously. "It's bloody freezing!"

Still no answer. She practically punched the door one last time, and finally saw her efforts rewarded.

"Sorry Arianwen, couldn't hear you over the noise in the kitchen!" Harry said sheepishly. "Come in."

She immediately forgot her momentary grump when she saw what Harry meant by 'noise in the kitchen'. Ginny had turned the volume of the stereo up to what she clearly thought was loud enough to drown out her singing, but unfortunately was still audible to the every human within a twenty mile radius.

"Oh not 'Bright Side of the Moon' again!" Arianwen whined. "She's obsessed!"

"Yeah you're telling me," Harry groaned, "her solo's coming up in a minute, brace yourself."

And as if on queue, Ginny's voice went up by another octave as she bawled "Oooooo-oooooh you're the brightest siiiiide of the moon!"

"GINNY!" Harry shouted over the music. "ARIANWEN'S HERE!" Ginny carried on dancing, oblivious.

Arianwen rolled her eyes. For the 'Chosen One', Harry could be pretty thick. "You're a wizard you know!" She yelled over the music.

"WHAT?" He yelled back.

"YOU'RE A WIZARD, HARRY!" She shouted.

"I'M A WHAT?" He cupped a hand over his ear to alert her to his current deafness.

"Never mind." Arianwen laughed. She pointed her wand at the stereo and thought ' _Reducio_ ', quelling the music enough for Ginny to jump and clasp a hand to her mouth in embarrassment.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked, horror struck.

"Long enough to remember why I never invite you to karaoke night." Arianwen teased.

The red-head laughed and pulled her into a quick hug, placing a quick peck on her cheek. Whilst Ginny and Arianwen hadn't really seen eye-to-eye during the War, they had enough people in common that they ended up seeing each other quite frequently after it. Soon enough they were appreciating each other's dry humour and general disdain for men and decided to be friends.

"Hermione," Arianwen greeted, "how are you?"

"Oh not too bad thanks, think I may just about live to hear another day." She raised a judging eyebrow at Ginny, earning herself a few choice words in response. "We didn't think you'd be able to make it." Hermione said, turning back to the blonde.

"Yes well I don't have Llewyn tonight so I figured what better way to spend a Wednesday evening than getting pissed with the girls." Arianwen replied with a grin, holding up a bottle of vodka.

"Ooh me like!" Ginny grabbed the vodka from Arianwen and began rummaging about on her drinks trolley, supposedly looking for something to mix it with.

"So is Llewyn with Narcissa Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

"Uh yeah…well, mostly with Draco. Obviously Narcissa has to be there to supervise though. Also, you really don't need to call her by her full name every time you mention her." Arianwen said tiredly.

Hermione tensed her lips in disapproval. "Mmm I think she'll always be Narcissa Malfoy to me."

"She's really not like Lucius you know, she's her own person." Arianwen argued.

"She still doesn't like muggleborns though does-" Ginny slapped the glasses down on the table, interrupting Hermione.

"Um hello? Malfoy's allowed to have overnight stays now?" She questioned. "When did this happen? Are you going soft on him? Oh my god, do you still have feelings for him or something?!"

Arianwen blushed and held up her hands in an 'I'm not armed' move. "Woah slow down there cowboy. This is the first overnight stay he's having with Llewyn, don't worry I haven't been keeping you in the dark about some secret love affair." She put a hand over Ginny's mouth to cover the interruption she was about to make. "And no, I'm not going soft, I just think it's unfair for Llewyn to be kept from his father just because he and I no longer get along."

"Alright alright, jheeze!" Ginny whined, pressing a glass into Arianwen's hand. "Here, drink this, it's anti-defensive potion."

Arianwen threw her head back and laughed. "Sorry! I just get a bit…tense…about Draco-related topics."

"We've noticed!" Hermione laughed.

Arianwen took a big gulp of her drink; it tasted like an odd mix of berries, paint, and chocolate, but wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"Ooh she's _thirsty_!" Ginny giggled, her face glowing from the many drinks they'd clearly had before Arianwen arrived.

"Yeah, thirsty for Malfoy's loins!" Hermione joined in.

"His loins? What the hell?" Arianwen burst out laughing.

"Yeah you know," Ginny piped up, running around the kitchen counter, "his big old-"

"Oh my god, shut up!" Arianwen laughed, she grabbed a tea towel from the oven door and lobbed it at Ginny, smacking her directly in the face. "Bullseye!"

"Here," Hermione slid another drink down the table to her, "you're gonna need a few more of these."


	3. Chapter Three: Hindsight

**A/N: Here's another one for you :) I stayed up just to get this finished so hopefully it's not a big mess of delirious ramblings. I would be super grateful if you could leave your thoughts in the review box at the bottom, it's always good to know what's working/not working - especially at the start of a new fic!**

 **I think we're pretty much done with the flashbacks after this chapter btw. Hope it hasn't been too confusing!**

 **All my love to those who reviewed the last chapter, and thanks to everyone that has been reading along with me.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Hindsight**

Draco flexed his hand to relieve the muscles that were spasming from overuse. It was gone 5pm on a Wednesday in early March and most of his colleagues had already gone home; turns out crime doesn't mind taking a break 'til the morning. His boss, Richard Cuthbertson-Davis had put Draco on desk duties for the day, well for the majority of the year actually, and that meant that he had to complete everyones paperwork after they returned from whatever incident they were sent to sort out.

A dull thump next to him made his head shoot up. His eyes narrowed at the man in front of him.

"Potter," He acknowledged drily, "how can I help?"

Harry pulled at the skin on his neck awkwardly. "That incident at the Weasley's shop took longer than we expected-"

"I'm sure." Draco commented in a bored voice.

"Yes," the dark-haired man said, his tone becoming more snippy. He opened his mouth to retort but decided against it, Hermione's voice saying 'pick your battles' in his head. "So anyway, I've put the action report on the pile."

He looked apologetic, serving only to annoy Draco further. He couldn't decide which was worse: the open hostility he received from his other colleagues or the obvious pity he received from people like Harry. "Fine. See you tomorrow." It was as civil as he was ever going to be able to be.

"See you." Harry replied plainly, then shouted to Cuthberston-Davis on the way out: "Night Dickie."

"Have a good one!" The older man called back from his office.

Draco glanced at his watch, it was now 5.15pm and he had to pick Llewyn up in fifteen minutes, yet the pile of reports that needed finishing had only seemed to grow despite him trying to race through them all day. He rose to his feet and reluctantly moved towards the Auror in Chief's office, knocking the door to get the balding man to look up from his desk.

The man tutted when he saw he was there. "Malfoy, what do you want?"

"I need to pick my son up from his mother's house and Potter's just handed in an extra report, and obviously I don't have time to finish it all off tonight so can I come in early tomorrow to get it done? It'll all be finished before the first assignments are handed out."

Richard put his quill back in its pot and surveyed Malfoy slowly. "Is there a reason you didn't get your work finished today?"

"Well…" Draco started, feeling his confidence begin to ebb, "I'm still working through the backlog from that Hurley House raid on Monday."

"So not only are you incompetent in the field you're also incompetent at paperwork. Honestly, Malfoy, I'm running out of ways to make you useful." He watched Draco with a smirk, waiting for him to react. Unfortunately for him, Draco had learnt a fair bit about self-control when he was in rehab, and didn't play along.

"Richard-"

"That's 'Sir' to you, Malfoy!" Cuthberston-Davis barked.

" _Sir,_ " Draco drawled, "I'm _always_ the last person to leave the office and the first to arrive in the morning, I've done all the crappy tasks you've given me and not complained once, and all I'm asking is to leave work on time so that I can pick up my son - who I only see twice a week!"

"I will not be spoken to like that!" The man barked. "You should be grateful you even have a job here! If I had a say in it your kind would still be locked up with the dementors! Now go and finish your goddamn work or don't bother coming back!" A stubby finger directed him out.

Draco slammed himself down in his chair, seething. He'd have to let Narcissa know so she could pick Llewyn up for him but knew she'd do that unbelievably irritating disappointed sigh. Storming off to the nearest floo, he was completely oblivious that Harry had come back to pick up his cloak and had heard everything.

* * *

He arrived back at Malfoy Manor at eight o'clock. Sweating and panting, he jumped two steps at a time and ran down the hallway, skidding to a halt outside Llewyn's bedroom. The door was open ajar but there was no light streaming out. Perhaps his mother had put Llewyn to bed? He creeped carefully into the room, trying not to make a sound so he wouldn't wake the little one.

"Draco?" His mother shouted down the hall. "Is that you?"

He cursed under his breath. Did she have to be so bloody loud?

She opened the door before he could intervene. "What are you doing in here?" She asked in that same inappropriately loud voice.

"Shh!" He hushed her, looking back to the little bed that was in the far corner of the room; but the light from the hallway was illuminating it enough now that Draco could see there was no one in it. "Where's Llewyn?"

"At home," Narcissa clipped tartly, "with his mother."

"What?" Draco spun back around. "Didn't you get my message?"

Narcissa blew air through her nose and walked back out into the hallway, Draco on her heels. "I received it, yes, and then I ignored it."

"Ignored it? What - what's going on?" Draco grabbed her shoulder to make her stop walking. "Mother?"

Narcissa threw her hands up in the air dramatically. "It's just not _fair_ , Draco. It's not fair for you to come and go into that little boy's life as you please. Arianwen has set you rules for a reason and frankly if you can't follow them you should just leave well enough alone."

He blinked, waiting for her to crack a smile and whip out the punchline…but she didn't. "Are you being serious right now? You're actually taking her side again?"

Narcissa pursed her lips, the lines that age had cut into her skin growing deeper; though when she spoke it was a little softer than before. "Draco, dear, it's not about taking sides. It's just that your poor Arianwen has been through an awful lot and been ever so patient with you, even when you were…" she paused as she tried to select the right word, "…unreliable. And even now…" she tailed off again.

"Even now _what_?" Draco half asked, half dared.

Narcissa sighed again. "Well you're not exactly making it easy for her, are you? You need to start being more stable, Draco, and being on time is a perfect way to show Arianwen that you're serious about being in Llewyn's life."

"I don't need a bloody lecture!" Draco spat. "The only reason I was late is because I was trying to hold on to my fucking job, which is one of the reasons she let me have Llewyn in the first place!" He started pacing, rubbing his hand on the back of his head as he did.

"Watch your language!" She scolded. "I have had quite enough of this 'woe is me' attitude, this is not how your father and I raised you! If you even knew how much that girl has done for you you wouldn't be stood here trying to blame your bad parenting on me, you'd be at her house begging her to give you another chance!"

Draco could practically feel a growl forming in his throat. "What the hell are you talking about? She kicked me out of our house! She kicked me out when she was the only person getting me through to the next day - and she knew it, she knew how much I was relying on her but she still left me!"

"And that is exactly the problem that I'm trying to explain to you Draco: you blame everything on her but you don't take any responsibility for your own actions! She didn't just throw you out of the house with nowhere to go, she waited until you were sober and told you that she'd arranged for you to spend some time with your father and me, here at the Manor. But you never turned up and I got worried so I went to see Arianwen to see if you were still there, and when she found out you were missing, well - she was beside herself!"

* * *

 _"What do you mean he's not with you?" Arianwen screeched, her heart beating a minute to the dozen. "I told him to go straight to yours but he insisted on going to work first, maybe he's still there?" It was more of a wish than a question but Narcissa, also sick with worry, clutched onto it like a lifeline._

 _"Can you floo them?"_

 _"Yeah!" Arianwen shouted behind her, already running through her house to the nearest fireplace. A tense few minutes passed while Arianwen had her head in the flames and Narcissa stood helplessly behind, waiting for news. Shortly after, Arianwen pulled her head back out, tears starting to form in her eyes. "No one's there." She announced shakily. "I shouted for ages but no one came."_

 _"Is there someone else you can try?" Narcissa questioned desperately._

 _Arianwen gasped and grabbed another handful of floo powder. "Yes, of course! Godric's Hollow!" She shoved her head back into the flames, leaving Narcissa to wait and hope once again._

 _By the time she pulled her head out, the tears had begun streaming down her face. "He never showed up," she said quietly, "Harry said he was fired a month ago!"_

 _"What?" Narcissa gasped. "Oh Merlin, what's happened to my boy! Where else could he be?"_

 _"Harry said there're some clubs he's caused some trouble at before, I'll try there first." Arianwen went straight into action mode. "Take Llewyn back to your house, put him to bed and then stay there, just in case Draco comes back."_

 _"I can't let you look for him on your own! Not after what he did to you last night, it's not safe!" Narcissa was becoming hysterical, which ironically seemed to calm Arianwen down._

 _"No Narcissa it's fine, he wouldn't hurt me…not intentionally anyway. I need you to go back to the Manor in case he goes there, okay?" She gave her a quick reassuring hug, then turned to go. "I'll let you know as soon as I find him!"_

* * *

 _Hours later, Arianwen stood outside her last resort: the dirtiest, mangiest gentleman's club - and the last of the clubs Harry had mentioned: 'Wonderland'. The name was just about as discrete as the signage, and when Arianwen entered the neon woman next to the big 'W' swung her hips and giggled suggestively._

 _Thankfully, the place was heaving and no one looked towards the beam of streetlight that briefly crossed the room. It was the kind of place where people wanted not to be seen, so eye contact, unless with your night's prey, was generally taboo. "Can I help you, sugar?" A fake American accent purred in her ear._

 _Though hardly a prude, Arianwen certainly didn't appreciate the hand that was running up her thigh. "Possibly." She snipped, her tone making it very clear she was not a woman to be messed with. "I'm looking for someone, perhaps you've seen him. He's about 6 foot 2, light blonde hair-"_

 _"A jawline that could cut a girl into tiny little pieces the second he looks your way?" The woman gushed, practically melting at the thought. Arianwen's lip curled ever so slightly, a defence mechanism she'd picked up from Draco over the years._

 _"Quite. Is he here?" She craned her neck around the oddly tall brunette to see if she could spot a flash of that famous white-blonde hair - but nothing._

 _"He might be." The woman smiled lopsidedly, revealing some rather white but rather crooked front teeth. Definitely not an American, she noted. "But sugar I don't make a living by giving things away for free. Though a girl as pretty as you could make me do a lot of things."_

 _Arianwen might have laughed had she not been out searching for Draco for Merlin knew how many hours. As it was, she opted to dig her hand into the pocket of her robe and press a few galleons into the woman's hand. "That should more than cover it. Where is he?"_

 _The woman's smile hardened, becoming more business like. And with a very distinctive Brummie accent said: "He's got a couple of girls up top, paid extra not to be disturbed." She looked pointedly at Arianwen's pocket._

 _"Ucgh," she grumbled, reaching back inside her robes, "so you want me to pay to disturb him? There." She pressed another five galleons into the woman's hand. "Can you take me there now?"_

 _"Whatever you want, sugar.." The sickly sweet American was back. She winked, then led Arianwen through a door to the back and up a few flights of stairs. By the time they reached the door on the top landing, Arianwen's hands had gone so sweaty that they slipped on the doorknob._

 _"Let me," the woman pushed forward and rested her hand on the knob. She gave Arianwen a searching look. "This isn't gonna be pretty, Miss."_

 _"I can handle it." Arianwen assured her, her confident tone sounding completely foreign to her ears. The woman nodded and opened the door, then quickly made her exit back down the stairs, not wanting to get caught up in the aftermath._

 _And she was right to do so, for Arianwen's heart was instantly ripped from its cage at what she saw. Draco had two women on the bed with him, one on all fours who was screaming her desire with every thrust into her that he made; the other one splayed out next to them, begging him to come in her mouth as she played with herself. They hadn't noticed her yet - standing there completely still, horrorstruck._

 _"Not like that." Draco reprimanded the woman on all fours, whose screaming was rendering her voice unusable. "Her voice is softer."_

 _"Ohh," the woman moaned instead, her voice more breathy. "Oh Draco, just like that Daddy."_

 _Arianwen couldn't take any more; she slammed the door shut behind her, her eyes ablaze with the kind of fury only betrayal could stoke. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She hissed, just loudly enough to be heard over the two women, who were carrying on with the show._

 _Draco grinned maniacally at her, not breaking eye contact as he began thrusting harder into the woman, eliciting unpracticed wails of excitement from her. He had cuts all over his arms; he must've been mixing the drug into his bloodstream all day and night. "I picked the one's that looked most like you, my sweet." He laughed to himself, his eyes still not breaking contact. "They even got them to engorgio their tits for me. Do you like them?" He gestured towards the one who was lying on her back._

 _"Come on baby it's my turn, come in me. I need you, baby." She moaned, as if on queue. And he obliged. He pulled out of the first woman suddenly, prompting the other one to scramble up and ram his penis into her mouth._

 _Arianwen felt utterly sick. She ran over to an open window and hurled her head over the ledge, retching horribly. Little stars had begun swarming in her vision, a loud ringing in her ears briefly drawing out the sounds of Draco's cheating. But she came-to faster than she might've hoped - and instantly, she saw red. She staggered to her feet and lunged herself upon the women, screaming "GET OUT!" at the top of her lungs. Grabbing fistfuls of died blonde hair, she yanked them up and dragged them unceremoniously to the top of the stairs._

 _"Tut tut," Draco slurred from the bedroom. "You can't have your cake and eat it too, you know," he sucked in a sharp breath, and Arianwen rushed back into the room, knowing all too well what that sound meant. True enough, he'd made a fresh cut in his arm and was rubbing the powdered tooth of the kelpie into it when she reentered the room._

 _"Stop it!" She half shouted-half cried, yanking the hand holding the powder away. "This shit is not going to make you feel better!"_

 _"Ahh," Draco ground his teeth together in satisfaction as the drug hit him full force, "I don't know about that." She watched his eyes roll back in his head, his fists clench and unclench, and his legs give way beneath him, forcing him to flop back on the bed._

 _It was a routine she wished she didn't know so well but in some ways it would make her life easier. She could walk him out, get him to a safe place to apparate, and then set him up at his parent's house; he'd be in the mellow phase for a good hour before he would turn aggressive - just long enough to get him locked up._

* * *

"She set you up in the north wing, stayed with you all through your withdrawals, even when you got nasty with her. As soon as you fell asleep she'd go and see to Llewyn, make sure he was happy and didn't want for anything. Then it would be straight back to your bedside, brewing you potions to help your symptoms, singing to you and stroking your hair to make you fall asleep, holding you all through your shivers, promising you that you'd get through it. She didn't stop, I doubt she barely slept at all - she watched you day and night."

Narcissa's gaze grew steadily stronger as she regained focus. She looked at Draco sadly. "And then when you'd gotten through the worst of it, she had to take a step back, she said she wanted you to get better for you and if you knew she was there you would just make it about her. So she passed on your day-to-day care to me and your father, told us exactly what to do - when to help you and when to leave you be. She came back every night, just sat in that room with you while you slept, whispering things to you, sometimes reading you stories or articles from the Prophet. She just wanted to be close I think."

An excruciating lump had formed in Draco's throat, making it hard to speak. "I-I don't remember any of that."

"No," Narcissa sighed, "you wouldn't. She wouldn't let us say anything at all." Her voice began to tremble. "You truly broke her heart, Draco. The idea that you still loved her deep down was just about the only thing holding your relationship together. And when she saw you with those _whores,"_ she spat the word out with renewed venom, "I think it just tipped her over the edge."

A hot, salty tear dripped into his mouth. What had he done? What the hell had he done?

"Do you think she'll ever…?" He tailed off, it was a stupid question. How could she ever forgive him?

"I don't know," Narcissa said gently, reading his mind, "your father doesn't think so anyway. He thinks you should move on."

"And you?" He asked again, hopeful.

Narcissa paused for a moment. "I'm afraid I don't think she knows how to forgive you, dear." Then stopped again, looking slightly guiltily at her son. "And I'm not sure that she even wants to, anyway."


	4. Chapter Four: Laying Odds

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this one is so late, I've had a really crappy week. Thank you so so so much for the reviews, it's really helped make me feel better :)**

 **Next chapter should be on Tuesday, so not long to wait after this one. I know this chapter is quite short but I just wanted to get something out. Hope you enjoy and see you next week!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Laying Odds**

The Malfoy's were gathered around in a small circle, chatting to some middle aged society women to get the latest gossip. Well, Narcissa was anyway.

Draco stifled his third yawn, his eyes watering under the pressure, and looked imploringly at his father for help. Lucius appeared to be attempting to retreat to his happy place only to be forced back to the present with each loud cackle - but picked up on Draco's gaze nonetheless. He looked meaningfully at his son's glass, which was still housing about half of its champagne, and downed his own. Picking up on the inference, Draco quickly gulped down his champagne. The glass had only just left his lips when his father feigned a gasp. "My my, the service here is drastically below par, not a waiter in sight! Ladies, what would you like to drink? Draco and I will fetch them for you."

They went to the farthest bar in the room just so they could have a longer journey back, tasked with procuring an assortment of exotic sounding martini's. Draco leant against the table, his back to the barman as his father recited their order, and glanced around the room. The Ministry really did go all out for the equinox events and this year was no different. Being spring, there were swags and garlands strewn across just about every surface and hanging from each elongated archway, stuffed full with pastel coloured English roses and carnations, eucalyptus stems, and a spray of gypsophila. Whilst there was a whole range of activities in full swing in City Hall, it seemed the best events were taking place outside in the gardens; he watched in amusement as a teenage boy tried to impress a girl in a pink frock with the treasure the niffler was finding for him. It was all going well until the niffler took a keen interest in the girl's necklace and knocked her over in it's attempt to snaffle it off her neck.

His eyes moved a little to the left, where a streak of white fabric slipped behind a pillar. He watched curiously as Arianwen creeped further around the pillar and into his line of vision; she was playing hide and seek with an excitable blonde-haired boy. Moments later Llewyn bounded up to her, laughing happily as she pretended to jump in shock, then crouched down and covered his face in kisses. Despite himself, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was; her linen white dress tailored perfectly to her hourglass silhouette and yet so effortless, her bright smile giving her a kind of angelic aura - or so he thought anyway. He cringed at his own sappiness - the guys at work would rip into him if he ever said any of this aloud.

It was wonderful to watch them together though, so contented with only the other's company. But it was painful too. His stomach knotted tightly as he remembered what Narcissa had told him a few weeks prior.

"Still pining after her I see." Lucius' voice spoke into his right ear, causing Draco to scowl.

"You don't get it." He said in a tone that plainly told his father to drop it.

Lucius had never been one for dropping a subject when it didn't suit him, however. "I won't disagree with you there, I've never been able to fathom what you see in that one. And even now, watching them at a distance like some kind of lovesick dog! I expected more of you, Draco."

Draco had to physically bite his tongue to stop himself from retaliating. A momentary pause that Lucius took full advantage of. "Now, look at Miss Greengrass over there - a fine example of excellent breeding: a beauty for sure, graceful, well regarded in the most esteemed of circles, and-" he paused for effect, "- _unemployed."_

"Unemployed?" Draco scoffed. "What is your obsession with Arianwen's job?"

"A lady has plenty of things to occupy her without adding employment into the fray. We would be a laughing stock if you married such a woman! _"_ He looked in Arianwen's direction in disgust.

"This conversation is completely irrelevant," Draco snapped, turning around and swiping a pre-prepared drink from the bar behind. "Everything you just said about Arianwen aside, the Greengrass' would sooner marry their daughters off to people like Longbottom than they would to a Malfoy. You might not have noticed but we're not exactly on the A-list, Father."

"Exactly!" Lucius exclaimed, gripping Draco's shoulders in a bid to make him understand. "We need them to restore our name, and I'm certain that Philip can be persuaded for the right amount."

Draco scowled, trying to sort the millions of outraged thoughts that were spinning in his head. "Please don't tell me that you've already started to put this ridiculous idea in motion?" He hissed.

"What's ridiculous, Draco, is your attitude towards our salvation!" Lucius bit back loudly, earning them some raised eyebrows and whispers from the surrounding spectators.

"I'm not having this conversation with you, Father." Draco hissed. He jerked his shoulders out of his father's grip and headed out into the garden.

* * *

Llewyn clutched his treasures close to his chest as he waited for his mother to finish chatting to the grown ups. He peered through their legs to see if there was anything exciting happening beyond and jumped for joy when he saw his father walking out into the garden, looking around for someone.

"Daddy!" Draco snapped his head to the left in time to see the hilarious sight of his son trying to run towards him, dropping some of his sweets, and then doubling back on himself to pick them up. He decided to put him out of his misery and meet him in the middle. Llewyn grinned, waving an amber coloured wrapper in his face. "Mammy said these are your favourite." He pushed his little arms full of sweets into Draco's.

He opened one and smiled to himself. "The dark chocolate hard toffees," he murmured, "of course she remembers."

"I found lots, I think I got them all!" Llewyn announced proudly.

Draco laughed and ruffled his hair. "Good job, son. So where is your mother anyway?"

The small boy sighed dramatically. "She's over there." He pointed in the direction of a group of chattering older women, Arianwen at their heart. "It's sooo boring." He whined.

Draco smirked, he remembered feeling just like that when he was younger and caught up in 'adult-talk'. "Well then, why don't you go and play in the sandbox and I'll rescue your mother."

Llewyn didn't need telling twice. He scampered over the sandbox and plopped himself down in it, spilling a trail of treats behind him. Draco shook his head, smiling, then approached the group that were holding Arianwen hostage.

A portly sixty-something woman was speaking quickly to Arianwen; it looked as though she were trying to sell her something. "My son is incredibly successful you know, runs his own gardening business-"

"So you know he's good with his hands!" Another woman, very similar in appearance to the other one piped up. The group all cackled, leaving Arianwen blushing.

"I'm sure your son is wonderful, Mrs Harris, but-" Arianwen tried.

"Well then I'll have to set you up! Such a lovely young thing like you shouldn't be husbandless - what a waste!" The portly woman cooed.

"Ahem." Draco cleared his throat, making some of them jump.

"Draco!" Arianwen exclaimed, desperation evident in her voice. She dashed over to him, finding safety at the outer edge of the mothers meeting. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oh yeah?" He raised an eyebrow knowingly, trying not to laugh at the pleading look on her face. "Well I've been looking everywhere for you too, we must've missed each other."

The women who had been trying to set Arianwen up looked between the two of them, confused. "Uh, who is this young fellow?"

"This is my husband, Draco." Arianwen lied, circling one hand around his middle and placing the other on his chest. He looked at her bemusedly, trying to clear his brain of the fog that had clouded it the second she'd touched him. She squeezed his side impatiently, helping him to jump back into action.

"You didn't say you had a husband!" One of the women was saying.

"Yes, I'm afraid this one is off the market, ladies, but I'm sure the perfect women for your various sons are out there somewhere." He gestured vaguely to the area behind their disappointed heads.

Some hair had fallen out of Arianwen's golden blonde bun; he pushed it out of the way, enjoying how warm her cheek was. She looked up at him and for one moment they paused, faces closer than they had been in so long. Arianwen blinked a few times, then shook her head, apparently clearing whatever brief spell they'd been under. "We ought to go and see how Llewyn is getting on." She said. "See you again I hope, ladies." And waved goodbye.

"Thanks for saving me," she said to Draco as they walked over to the sandpit.

He chuckled. "They seemed like a fun bunch."

Arianwen rolled her eyes. "They wouldn't let me get a word in edgeways!" As they reached the sandbox, they saw Llewyn guarding a small mound in the sand. Exchanging curious glances, they crouched down beside him.

"Hello, sweetheart, what have you got there?" Arianwen enquired.

Llewyn glared at another little boy who was passing by and, by Llewyn's standards anyway, taking far too much interest in his sand pile. "Daddy's treasure!" He whispered importantly.

Draco threw his head back and laughed, his whole face lighting up. Arianwen smiled too, he hadn't looked so natural and carefree in a long time; it was nice, like the Draco she'd first met when they were sixteen. Llewyn didn't understand the dynamic between his parents but beamed triumphantly at his success anyway and began to dig the sweets out for his dad.

Arianwen tried to hold in her laughter as she watched him make his father eat a sandy chocolate toffee but didn't succeed for long; soon enough the whole family were in fits of giggles. "So are they still your favourite?" Arianwen asked after a few steadying breaths.

"I suppose they must be," he said cautiously, eyes narrowing at her playful smile.

"Want to know how I know it's your Daddy's favourite?" Arianwen asked her son, who nodded - eager to know more about his dad. "Well, one night when your Father and I were in school I couldn't sleep, so I went down to the common room to read a book. I got myself settled on an armchair near the fire and started reading but there was this weird sound coming from the other end of the room. So I started to worry because I didn't have my wand with me and it was late and dark, and I thought that some horrible creature had escaped. Anyway, I could hear it coming from the window so I creeped over, pulled the curtain back, and there was your father hidden behind it, scoffing toffees!"

As always, Llewyn was a reliable audience and laughed hysterically. Draco pushed Arianwen's arm playfully and moaned: "do you remember literally everything that I've ever done?"

Arianwen furrowed her brow for a moment in mock thought, then nodded her head decisively. "Yes, obviously! And on that note, do you remember what you said when I found you?"

He sighed. "Well you were laughing at me, much like you are now, and accusing me of 'scoffing' as though I were some kind of oaf like Crabbe or Goyle."

"Aaand?" Arianwen prompted.

"And I said 'Malfoy's don't scoff' and stormed off." He chuckled.

"Your Daddy wouldn't speak to me for a week after that," Arianwen told Llewyn in a mock-hurt tone. "But I made it up to him." She added as an afterthought, a sly smile playing on her lips.

Draco didn't quite know what to do - she had 'made it up to him' in a way that he couldn't repeat to a five year old. And now she was looking at him like she certainly didn't hate the memory… Was she flirting? Surely not!

"Yeah, you were always good at that." He winked, inciting a deep and most surprising blush to colour her cheeks.

She looked away. What was she doing? She knew she couldn't let him get too close again, why was she giving him false hope? And why was she putting herself through it?

"Anyway," Draco cleared his throat, picking up on her change in mood, "I've been meaning to tell you - I bought an apartment, I'm moving in this weekend."

Arianwen's head shot up. "You did? That's amazing, congratulations!"

He looked pleased by her reaction. "Thanks. It feels pretty good to be getting some independence back but uh- it will mean that it would probably be easier if Llewyn could come to my place rather than my parents'. I've already spoken to Mother, and she's happy to floo…" he paused hopefully.

She nodded, saying slowly: "Makes sense. But I don't see any need for her to join you, unless you want her to."

Draco blinked, shocked. She was going to let him have Llewyn unsupervised? He could hardly contain his excitement. "Really? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." And for the third time that afternoon they found a quiet moment of nostalgia in each others eyes.

* * *

Lucius sighed heavily. The last thing he needed was his wife looking at him like she wanted to rip his intestines out and drag him along the floor with them. "What do you mean you've put in an offer?" Narcissa hissed. One of the women Narcissa had been gossiping with earlier edged closer to them - evidently gossip knew nothing of loyalty. "Darling," Narcissa said in honeyed tones, her fake smile only adding to the impending dread that came over him when he displeased his wide, "Are you telling me that you've been idiotic enough to try and enter into an agreement for the youngest Greengrass girl? Because that really would be incredibly idiotic wouldn't it, dear?"

"Now Cissa, really I can explain-" Lucius started.

"Oh so you actually have been that stupid then, have you?" Narcissa said through her gritted smile.

"Nothing's been agreed," Lucius consoled. "Philip is playing coy, says the girl has had a few offers. He knows he holds all the cards and he's using it to drive the price up, but I'll be damned if I let this one slip!"

"Honestly, Lucius!" Narcissa hissed. She guided him over to the dance floor so they could argue more discretely. "Do you really think I'm worried about the financials? It's our son I'm worried about!"

"Yes, as am I! Which is why I'm trying to secure him some semblance of a future. He needs to move on, Cissa, the Gwydion girl clearly has no romantic interest in him. He's only making it worse for himself by holding on for her." He reasoned, leaving out the part where he described how inappropriate of a wife she would make for their son.

Narcissa frowned. He did actually have a point. She knew that Arianwen had been dating casually for a while, and whilst she was making an effort to get on with Draco for Llewyn's sake, was it just that? Just for Llewyn and not at all for herself?

It was too hard to say, Arianwen wasn't easy to read.

She watched over Lucius' shoulder as the two young parents laughed together, playing with their son. One thing was obvious, they both still loved each other, but perhaps that wasn't enough for Arianwen any more. She was trying to move on so why shouldn't Draco?


	5. Chapter Five: Better Late Than Never

**A/N: Happy Tuesday lovely readers! I hope you enjoy this one, it was satisfying to write.**

 **Thanks a million for all the love from my marvellous reviewers :) And welcome to our new favourites/followers, great to have you join us!**

* * *

 **Chapter Five: Better Late Than Never**

Llewyn gave his father a tight hug before trotting off to play in the playroom like his mother commanded.

"I've just done a pot of tea if you fancy a cup?" Arianwen asked politely.

Draco checked his watch. He didn't have anywhere to be but he liked to pretend he wasn't a complete loser that spent his weekends entirely alone. "Sure, I should have time for a quick one." Arianwen nodded and led him through to the back of the house, where the kitchen overlooked the garden. He wondered if she could see through him, if she knew that he was just going to go home and have food at his desk while finishing off some work. Well if she did, she didn't let on at least - her face was as politely impassive as ever.

"Here." she poured him a cup and pressed it into his hands. "Let's sit out on the terrace, it's warm enough."

He smiled his agreement, then followed her out. Taking a seat on a sturdy cast iron chair, he surveyed his surroundings; the gardens were wild, carefree, full of simple blooms and chattering with the local wildlife. It was the very essence of Arianwen: uncomplicated and yet so beautifully intricate at the same time. He wondered absentmindedly if they'd reflected her father as well as they did her, or if the gardens somehow adapted to each occupant.

Arianwen sipped her tea quietly, watching the man before her. He looked well, a healthy rose tint in his cheeks, his eyes no longer sallow and sunken like they had been when he was using. He still looked tired though, she noticed with a frown. Perhaps he'd been working late? Or - a nasty voice said from the back of her mind - perhaps he has someone to keep him up late. Some whirlwind romance that encouraged him to move out of his parents house and in on his own?

"Arianwen?" Draco's voice pulled her out of her thought process. She'd been staring.

"Sorry." She blushed and looked down. He never used her nickname anymore. She missed it, the familiarity. "Did you have fun with Llewyn?" She asked, returning her expression to one of casual interest.

He grinned, remembering the mischief they'd got up to the previous evening. "Lots. He's particularly taken with his bedroom, insisted we make a fort in there out of the sheets and sleep in it together."

Arianwen smiled softly, feeling encouraged by the twinkle in Draco's eye as he retold the story. "I'm surprised you managed to get him to leave."

"No," Draco shook his head, "no, he won't be away from you for any longer than he absolutely has to. Getting him to get ready to leave is never too much of a drag, getting him to _sleep_ however…"

"Absolute nightmare!" Arianwen agreed, chuckling slightly.

"Completely." Draco groaned, rubbing his tired eyes absently. "I do love it though, the whole bedtime routine. It's probably what I miss most when he's gone."

Arianwen's olive green eyes watched him sternly. "Well you can put him to bed whenever you want, Draco." There was something in her tone, anger maybe? But he wasn't sure where it had come from or how he could fix it.

"Really? Even when it's not my night?" He asked hopefully, deciding he might've misread her tone of voice.

She sighed, placing her teacup down. "Of course. I've never blocked you from seeing him, have I? That door is always open for you, Draco."

"Thank you." Was all he could think to say. There was a strange tension between them, something had changed since their rather pleasant encounter at the Spring Equinox event, he just wished he knew what. "So is there any particular days I can drop in?"

"Hmm," Arianwen thought for a few moments before speaking again: "Well you already have him on Wednesday evenings and overnight on Saturdays, so how about we try Tuesdays and see how we get on?"

"That would be incredible!" He hoped he could convey his sincerity, he'd never been a natural at expressing himself through pretty words.

"Llewyn will love it." She agreed, the warmth returning to her tone. "So how's work going?"

He told her all about a case that was keeping them all busy, a series of attacks on apparently unconnected witches and wizards - none of them able to identify their attackers.

"Ah yes, I've treated a few of them." Arianwen commented. "So you've no idea who's behind it all?"

"We have a few leads but nothing particularly promising." Draco said, looking tired again. What he hadn't mentioned was all the leg-work his boss, Richard Cuthbertson-Davis had him doing, only to be forced to stay at his desk whilst the others did the raids.

"Pity." Arianwen said flatly, but he could've sworn he saw the corners of her lips twitch upwards just a little as she said it. He looked at her intently, trying to work out if he'd imagined it. Apparently he had, for she simply looked mildly confused as he analysed her.

"Anyway, I ought to be getting off. Thanks for the tea." He stood up and straightened his shirt. "I'll see you Tuesday?"

"See you then." She raised her hand in a lazy wave as he walked back up to the house.

* * *

Arianwen stared angrily at the clock in her study. Nine fifteen in the evening. He was supposed to arrive at six thirty to do Llewyn's bedtime routine and once again he'd failed to show up on time so she'd had to put a crying and disappointed five year old to bed. It had been a month since they'd agreed that Draco could stop by after work to do the bedtime routine - and he'd been late every single time. Not only that, but he'd been late to pick Llewyn up for his Wednesday and Saturday visits, and would use lame excuses like he'd lost track of time at work.

The flames in the fireplace turned a bright shade of green and seconds later Draco stepped out, panting and red in the face. "Sorry!" He exclaimed as he stepped out of the flames. "I completely lost track of time at work. I've been working on a case-"

"I don't want to hear it." Arianwen snapped. "I'm sick of having to reassure our son that his Father still loves him. I shouldn't have to be the only responsible parent, Draco!"

"I know, I'm sorry." He really did look sorry, but Arianwen was so annoyed that she continued anyway.

"I have never once 'lost track of the time' when I've needed to be somewhere for Llewyn and yet I'm a Healer, a medical researcher, a fucking _Duchess_ \- have you ever even considered how busy I am? How I might not have the time to wait around for you either?" She yelled.

He rose to the bait instantly. "Oh well I'm sorry, your Excellency," he bowed sarcastically to her, "I was forgetting how important you are."

She stared at him open-mouthed, absolutely fuming with rage. "Which is exactly the bloody problem, isn't it! You have no appreciation for all the crap I have to put up with everyday! You're living in this self-pitying bubble where you're the one that's been hard done by and the rest of the cruel world is out to get you!" She took a breath for air, then continued. "Do you even remember the shit you've put me through, Draco Malfoy? Do you remember how I went to all of our public engagements alone and had to make excuse after excuse for you? And how I would nurse you better every morning after you'd been using and tell you not to worry for missing Blaise's wedding, or your grandmother's funeral, or my ceremony for getting the Order of Merlin: Second Class?" She didn't realise the angry tears had started flowing until some dripped into her mouth. "And do you remember when you practically strangled me and smashed my back into that mirror there? Or have you conveniently forgotten that too?" She pointed to the now repaired mirror on the far wall opposite the window.

Draco stared slack jawed at her. "Wait-what? Strangled you? I would never-"

"Well you did!" Arianwen snapped, though the energy behind her rant had started to dissipate.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't right, I-" he stepped forward and tried to take her hand but she ripped it away.

"Don't! It doesn't matter now, it's done." She sighed and pulled her hair at the roots with her hands, trying to calm herself down. "Look, I didn't mean to bring that last bit up, I know it wasn't you - I'm not blaming you." She sucked in a deep breath and let her hands fall to her sides. "Just be on time for Llewyn's birthday party on Friday, okay? That's all I want from you."

"I will, I promise." He managed, gulping down the lump in his throat. "And about that… _incident,"_ he struggled over the last word, "you have to know that in my right mind I would never do that, you know how much you mean-" he stopped himself, "-you know I'd never intentionally-"

"I know," she interjected stiffly, "forget I said it. It's in the past."

He hung his head, his self-loathing at an all-time high. "I'm so sorry." He croaked, then threw a handful of powder into the flames, said "Priory Hill", and disappeared into the floo network.

* * *

It was funny for the adults at the party to watch the children run riot. Llewyn had asked for a quidditch theme for his party, so Arianwen had decorated the house in any and all quidditch related items she could find. Teddy Lupin, who had turned five exactly a week before, had managed to untie some non-magical broomsticks that were hung up for decoration and handed them out to the most willing kids around. The ballroom that was housing the main party was now filled with zooming sounds from excitable children scampering about with broomsticks between their legs.

Arianwen felt a tugging on her robes and turned away from the collection of Wesleys and Potters she'd been standing with to address her rather upset looking child. "Llewyn, sweetheart, what's the matter? Aren't you having fun?" She questioned, concerned.

Llewyn sniffled and shook his head. "When's Daddy coming?"

The group quieted behind her. She could practically feel their stares on the back of her head as she tried to think of a good enough excuse. "Daddy will be here soon, he's just tied up at work."

Knees clicked next to her and a moment later, Harry was crouching down next to her and addressing her forlorn boy. "Your Father is very important you know, Llewyn." Harry told him in a whisper, as if the information he was passing on was highly coveted. It had the desired effect; Llewyn looked up at Harry eagerly, his sniffling a distant memory. "He's very busy on top secret stuff for the Ministry," Harry said in hushed tones. "Crime doesn't wait for any man." He winked and pressed a finger to his lips. Arianwen laughed silently, he'd have Llewyn thinking Draco was some kind of super spy.

Unlike Arianwen however, Llewyn proved to be a much less amused audience. He looked unsurely at his mother. "But he is coming, Mammy?"

Arianwen nodded and gave him a big hug. "Yes, darling, he won't be long now." With a little more encouragement from Arianwen, he returned to the party reluctantly.

"Ucgh!" Arianwen huffed to her friends. "I'm so sick of picking up the slack for him!"

Ginny shook her head, her livid expression mirroring Arianwen's. "It's getting ridiculous now," she agreed, "especially after everything you said to him on Tuesday!"

"Yeah," Hermione joined in, "he's just taking advantage now. I think you've got to give him an ultimatum."

"Mmhmm," Ginny nodded furiously. "Tell him if he's late one more time he can kiss goodbye to his little visits!"

"That's a bit extreme isn't it?" Harry asked, shocked. "He _is_ having a shit time of it at work, to be fair."

Ginny gave Harry a look that could kill. "We all have responsibilities, Harry! He can't use that as an excuse to get out of being there for his child!"

"I know, I know," Harry held up his hands in defence, "but most of the guys in the office have taken a real disliking to him. I'd go as far to say that they bully him."

"Bully Malfoy?" Hermione snorted. "Sounds like comeuppance!"

Harry sighed. "No, seriously, Dickie makes everyone give Malfoy all of our paperwork and never lets him go out on the job. Thanks to, _certain people_ ," he looked pointedly at Hermione, "we have an absolute shit-tonne of paperwork now. I actually overheard Malfoy asking to go home the other day, said he had to pick Llewyn up, and Dickie said if he left before he finished all the reports he'd lose his job. Honestly, he probably works more hours than all of us combined. Even you've noticed it, haven't you?" Harry directed at Ron, who nodded grudgingly.

"Yeah I have in fairness. Dickie actually told us he's trying to get rid of him in a staff meeting the other day. Said we should give him a hard time to speed up the process." Ron shrugged as if to say 'shit happens'.

Arianwen frowned. "Surely Richard wouldn't say that in front of Draco?!"

"Well no, it wasn't in front of him, Malfoy isn't allowed to come to our meetings." Ron said again, not particularly upset about the information he was confiding.

"Isn't allowed? What the hell? And you've both just let him get away with this?" Ginny accused, her finger pointing angrily at them.

The two guys exchanged uneasy glances and did, at least, have the decency to look ashamed. "I did try to say it was a bad idea but he wouldn't listen." Harry offered lamely.

"Yeah!" Ron jumped in. "And when you do he threatens to put you on his hit list next!"

Arianwen shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. "But what I don't get is why he puts up with it? Why doesn't he just quit? He's hardly a shrinking violet, he should stand up for himself!"

Hermione put a hand on Arianwen's arm, a move intended to calm her down. "Well, if it were me, I'd probably be worried that if I lost my job it would be another black mark against my name and you would think I'm too irresponsible to be trusted with Llewyn. He's probably just trying to prove that he's got his act together and can be a good dad, and not just for you - him and his family are constantly being slated in the press. Being an Auror is probably one of the best jobs to make the public forgive you. Maybe some combination of all of that is why he's putting up with it?"

Arianwen nodded, Hermione made a good point. She looked back at the guys. "So when he shows up late and says he lost track of time he was actually very aware of the time and just not allowed to leave?"

"Yeah, I reckon." Ron confirmed. "Look, I'm never gonna' like the guy and he's probably gonna' do something to make me regret sticking up for him, but you should probably cut him a bit of slack on this one."

That was a strong statement, coming from a Weasley. Arianwen exchanged a look with Ginny, trying to gauge if her mind had been as readily changed as hers had, and sure enough, the guilty expression on Ginny's face told Arianwen all she needed to know: it was time to truly forgive Draco Malfoy.

* * *

After everyone had gone home and she'd put Llewyn to bed, Arianwen went to the study that Draco always flooed into and settled down on the deep plum coloured sofa. The comforting feel of the soft velvet coupled with the warm glow of the fire worked quickly to sooth her into a slumber.

When Draco finally arrived, Arianwen was sleeping deeply and had managed to nestle herself under a blanket. She didn't stir when he stepped through the flames, making him stop in his tracks and question whether he should even wake her up. No, he told himself, she needed to know that he'd at least tried to come. Knowing he was in for another explosive rant, he knelt down beside her and shook her gently awake.

"Draco?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Draco!" She said again once she'd regained her bearings. She sat up slowly, unsure of how to react to the surge of excitement that burst through her once she realised how close their faces were. "The party's over," she said dumbly.

Draco sighed and let his back fall against the coffee table behind him. He put his head in his hands and said through his palms, "I tried, Ri, I tried so hard to get here, but-"

"You were held up in work, yeah I know." She finished for him, her heart lurching at his use of her nickname.

He lifted his head up and revealed the desperation on his face. "Please don't take him off me." He pleaded, his voice weak.

"Take him off you?" Arianwen practically laughed - what a ludicrous idea! She slid down onto the floor and knelt in front of his bent knees, moving her hands on top of his. "Draco, I'm not going to take Llewyn off you." She tugged at his hands, trying to pull him to his feet. "Come on, I've made up a bed for you. Get a good night's sleep and then you can give that to Llewyn in the morning." She nodded towards the neatly wrapped package on the floor.

"You want me to stay?" He couldn't believe what she was saying. How had she completely changed her tune since their argument just days ago?

"I do," she said firmly. "Now come on, you're exhausted. Let's get you to bed."


	6. Chapter Six: Lost, Found, and Lost Again

**A/N:**

 **I. Am. So. Tired.**

 **Thanks for all the love guys, it really means a lot to know you liked the last chapter. Have a good week and I'll see you sometime next Tuesday :) Until then, I shall be hibernating like my sluggy self.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Lost, Found, and Lost Again**

Draco rolled over in bed and breathed in deeply, a gentle plummy scent wafting up his nostrils. "Mmm," he mumbled contentedly: so familiar yet so unfamiliar. He came-to slowly, his drooping eyelids making a sudden awakening impossible. Ah yes, he thought to himself as he got his bearings, he was in Arianwen's house. The memories of their conversation the night before came welcomely to the forefront of his mind; she'd been so warm, so very Arianwen-like that he couldn't stop himself smiling like an idiot.

He picked his watch up from the bedside table and checked the time: 10.05am - it made a nice change from his usual 6am start. Knowing that Arianwen and Llewyn were probably already awake, he rushed into the bathroom to have a shower, then made his way downstairs with Llewyn's present in hand. After a little bit of searching he found them in the kitchen, it appeared that Arianwen had moved a dining table into the big bay window overlooking the gardens, perhaps no longer enjoying eating in the expansive space of the dining room on her own. She and Llewyn were speaking lightly in Welsh to one another, laughing every so often.

"Good morning." Draco said, making the others jump at his presence.

"Morning!" Arianwen smiled warmly, moving out of her seat and over to him. "Sleep well?"

Draco nodded. "Very, thanks. I didn't realise how tired I was 'til I woke up."

"Mmmhmm." Arianwen agreed in a disapproving tone. "You look hungry, come and sit down." She pulled out a chair for him at the table opposite Llewyn and he sat down, watching his son as he huffed and pushed his food away.

"Mammy I'm finished, can we go play outside now?" He whined.

"Certainly not!" Arianwen chastised from the cooker, where she was plating up some food for Draco. "Your Father needs to eat first."

Llewyn mumbled something in Welsh under his breath; his arms crossed, he was point blank refusing to look at the apparently traitorous man opposite.

"Llewyn!" Arianwen scolded again. "That's quite enough of that!" The small blonde went red but didn't dare disobey his mother again.

He settled instead for glaring at Draco's fork.

"Here," Arianwen placed Draco's food down in front of him: a selection of lightly sugared grapefruits, dragonfruits, and lychees, followed by a plate of raspberries on French toast. She hadn't forgotten about his secret sweet tooth then.

"This all looks amazing, Ri, thank you." He praised genuinely.

She waved it off as she rejoined them at the table. "It's no trouble, really. Uh! Don't forget this!" She interjected suddenly, swiping his napkin off the table and resting it on his lap instead.

Draco couldn't help but snigger at her. "You've been a mother for too long," he joked.

"Yes, thanks for your assistance with that," she jibed back, winking. Draco laughed merrily and shook his head, going back to his food. It really was very good, though he supposed it was only natural since she'd had to learn how to cook after Betsy died.

Much to his regret, Llewyn ignored him all the way through the meal, even though he made repeated attempts to wish him a happy birthday. "Do you want to open your present?" Draco tried instead, changing tack.

Llewyn shook his head, glowering across the table at his dad. "No!"

He sighed. Placing his cutlery down on his plate, his voice became apologetic. "I really wanted to be at your party, son."

"No you didn't!" Llewyn bit back immediately, "If you wanted to come you would have!"

"Llewyn!" Arianwen exclaimed, shocked. Llewyn looked at her wide-eyed, worried he'd upset her, so she continued in a softer tone: "There's no need to be so hard on your Father, he's been working incredibly hard to make our lives better, darling, and sometimes that means that he can't come to things or he'll be a bit late, but it certainly doesn't mean that he doesn't want to be with us. So why don't you go and give Daddy a nice big birthday hug?"

Draco's stomach lurched. He looked at Arianwen in complete shock but she only smiled back encouragingly, nodding to the small boy that was now trying to climb up his legs and onto his lap. Snapping back into the present, Draco lifted his son the rest of the way and enjoyed a tight hug. "Happy birthday, Lewie."

Llewyn somehow managed to wriggle into a cross-legged position on Draco's lap, so that he was still facing him. "Thanks Daddy!" The now six-year-old beamed back, forgetting his prior resistance instantly. He tried to peer around Draco's back but slumped back with a frustrated grunt when he couldn't find what he was looking for.

"I suppose you'll be wanting your present now?" He laughed.

"Yes please!" Llewyn clapped, then formed a small 'o' with his mouth as Draco placed a long parcel in front of him. He unwrapped it eagerly but carefully, pulling the spellotape off rather than ripping into the paper. "WOW!" He shouted once he'd fully uncovered what was underneath: a top of the range 'Perkin's First Broomstick'.

"I thought you might like it if I taught you how to fly." Draco said slowly, knowing full well that Llewyn was desperate to learn.

"Ooh yes, yes please! Let's go now!" Llewyn practically bounced off his father's lap, holding the broomstick like it were the most prized possession on earth.

"Put a winter cloak on first, please!" Arianwen called after her son, who seemed to have predicted what she was going to say before she said it and was already running off to find one.

Draco scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry I should've checked with you first, is it alright that I got him a broomstick?"

"As long as you show him exactly how to use it. He can't go high on it, right?" She asked, doing a bad job of sounding nonchalant.

"Yeah, he can't get higher than a few feet off the ground." He reassured.

"Alright," she nodded distractedly. She looked at him properly and exclaimed: "Oh sorry! I didn't look out any spare clothes for you!"

"No no, that's okay, I don't need anything." He tried to tell her, but she was already hurrying off to find him some. Deciding it was easier to just follow her, he caught up with her in time to see her pause outside the room her knew to be her parents. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, steadying herself, then pushed the doors open.

"Now I could give you some of your old stuff but it wouldn't fit you anymore." She muttered, distracted; he'd filled out a lot since he'd stopped using and started excising again. "There's bound to be something for you in here though." She opened her father's side of the wardrobes and ran her fingers across the rows of perfectly preserved garments. A few tears began to trickle down her cheeks and, without thinking, Draco slid his arm around her waist. Much to his surprise she didn't resist and leaned into him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Sorry," her voice was unsteady, "I don't know why I always get like this, it's stupid-"

"It's not stupid," Draco interrupted quickly, "you miss him, there's nothing stupid about that."

"Yeah," Arianwen murmured to her feet. She took in another deep breath and broke away from Draco, searching amongst the robes for something that would be suitable for him.

His heart sank pitifully as he acknowledged that his gesture meant more to him than it did to her. Reaching out, he picked up the ends of the fabric ties that were cinching her raspberry coloured dress in at the waist. The fabric slipped through his fingers easily and he watched it fall weightlessly back into place, wishing with the deepest and most tantalising longing that he could touch her again. Just for another minute.

"Here, this one should fit you nicely." She turned around, oblivious to the internal battle he was having behind her, and pushed a hardy tweed cloak and simple cotton shirt into his arms.

"Are you sure you don't mind me wearing these?" He questioned tentatively.

"Positive. It's deceptively cold out there today, you'll catch your death otherwise!" She began walking out of the room again, signalling that she'd take no further argument on the subject.

When he arrived back in the kitchen, Llewyn was waiting with his nose pressed up against the window, no doubt imagining what it was going to be like to soar through the air. Arianwen turned at the sound of his footsteps and smiled,"Suits you."

"Let's go, Daddy!" Llewyn urged, capturing his father's hand and attempting to pull him closer to the doors.

"Be careful, won't you?" Arianwen fretted, displaying just how worried she'd really been since Llewyn had first unwrapped his present.

"We will." And his calm reassurance actually seemed to work for he could see she trusted him. He hoisted his son off the ground and onto his hip so that his face was level with his mother's. "Come on, son, give Mum a kiss."

Arianwen leaned her face in, giggling as her son pressed a big kiss on her lips. She looked up at Draco, the warmth still glowing in her eyes, and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek. "You two have fun," she said before he could react, and opened the doors for them to make their way out onto the hilly terrain beyond.

Maybe all wasn't lost, after all.

* * *

After hours of whooping and shouting outside, Draco decided to call it a day and bring Llewyn back in. He was impressed with how quickly Llewyn had picked up the skill and even though he still insisted that Draco sit on the back with him he didn't mind - it was moments like these that would get him through the next week of hell from his boss.

Llewyn insisted on jumping in some fresh puddles as they made their way back to the house and, just as they were within ten metres of it, slipped and fell face first into a puddle as big as him. Arianwen made her best attempt at looking angry when they came back inside, Llewyn barely visible under the thick brown mud that was dripping on the kitchen floor. "I thought you were going flying, not swimming in a bog like a mochyn!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in an attempt to drive home the angry facade.

"Mummy, hug!" Llewyn squealed mischievously, running after his mother.

"ARGH! No!" Arianwen screamed, running around the other side of the kitchen island. She ran full circle, then jumped behind Draco. "Save me!" She squeaked, moving him in Llewyn's line of fire.

"Oh yeah that's great," Draco yelled sarcastically, as a screeching Llewyn jumped on him, spreading the mud all over his trousers, "you just save yourself!"

"Will do, thanks!" Arianwen laughed over the noise, and made a quick retreat to hide behind the kitchen door.

"Right you," Draco called out, holding Llewyn at arms length. "Get yourself in the bath, I'll come and give you a wash in a minute." Pleased with himself, he squealed with hysteric laughter all the way to the bathroom.

Arianwen heard footsteps come her way, then the door was pulled away from her and Draco stood, arms crossed, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"I'm sorry," Arianwen said, pressing her hand to her mouth to surpress her giggles as she saw just how much mud Llewyn had managed to get on him, "but when that kid finds a puddle it's every man for himself."

"That mental streak he just unleashed there, that comes from your side of the family!" He ranted, exasperated.

"Don't know what you mean," she replied innocently, smoothing out her dress.

He paused for a second, listening to the sound of mud droplets dripping on the floor. "Right! You're getting it!" He yelled, then pounced on her, encircling her body in his arms and smearing as much mud on her as he could manage.

"Stop!" She shrieked through gasps of laughter. "Let me go!" But he was far too strong and her resistance futile. He couldn't help but notice that her breasts were pressed up against his arms, her bum rubbing against his-

"Alright, if I must." He stepped back just in time, any longer and they would be about to have a very different conversation…seemed she still had a very quick and strong effect on him.

Her laughter tailed off slowly, a few rumbling chuckles making their way out of her mouth every so often. "You looked like you were having fun out there." She commented, reaching for her wand and cleaning the dirt off them.

"Yeah," he agreed wistfully, "he really took to it. I reckon he'll be able to fly solo in no time."

"That sounds like my nightmare," Arianwen chuckled. She cocked her head to the side as she always did when she was considering something. "You know, you should think of Quidditch, like as an actual career move."

Draco barked out a laugh. "Ha! Quidditch? I haven't played for ages!"

"I'm serious!" Arianwen scowled, crossing her arms. Draco smirked, he could see where Llewyn got it from. "You're so natural up there, you should go and try out, it can't hurt!"

He ran a hand through his windswept hair, brushing it over to one side. "I dunno Ri, I've already got a job-"

"A job you hate! Come on, Draco, I can see how much it's killing you! I don't like you working there." She implored.

The corners of his lips twitched slightly as he tried to prevent the stupid sappy grin that was threatening to take over his face. Malfoy's do not do the cheesy lovesick grins that the girls in Hogwarts used to coo over that Diggory idiot for, he reminded himself.

…It _was_ nice that she seemed to care so much about it though.

"I'll look into it," he held up a hand at Arianwen's delighted squeal, "but I'm not promising anything!"

"Thank you, Draco," she said much more calmly, sensing that that was what he wanted; though she did a silent jig in the kitchen after he'd left to give Llewyn a much needed bath.

* * *

The working day had been winding down, until Cuthberson-Davis had whisked himself off into an emergency meeting and informed everyone that they would need to stay until he was done. This resulted in the office being unusually crowded for the time of day; all the Aurors, apart from Draco, were well-used to being able to leave on time. He tried not to let himself feel a small sense of self-satisfaction at their irritation.

"Right!" Cuthbertson-Davis slammed into the room with his usual pomp, jolting everyone to look at him. "I have just received word from Upper Management: there have been more attacks in Swindon," murmuring erupted throughout the office. "All the pertinent information should be appearing in your in-trays shortly — ah, here it is." The familiar sound of paper materialising in the magical in-trays followed his words. "You are all operating in your usual teams — Jacobson, Entwistle, Potter, Pritchard, gather your men and rendezvous with the local enforcement officers on the ground. These attacks are still fresh, so we're in with a chance of getting our man!"

"Or woman," Ron piped up, to a round of sniggers from the Aurors as they stood up, awaiting dismissal.

"Enough of that nonsense, Weasley," Cuthbertson-Davis snapped. "Line up with the rest of your squad and prepare for Apparition. Not you, Malfoy," he added, his mouth curving in a familiar and malicious fashion. Draco, who had been preparing to join his squad as they were filing out of the room, stopped and stared at him.

"But, sir," he said, forcing the politeness. "The memo explicitly said that _all_ available hands were to report to duty."

"All available _qualified_ hands," Cuthbertson-Davis corrected. "And you haven't logged enough field time this quarter to be included in that statement."

"But _you_ are the one who's been keeping me in the office!" Draco snarled. "How can you expect me to log field time if I am the only one not allowed in the field!"

"I would have thought that you got plenty of field time in your misspent youth, Mr Malfoy; but I suppose that we aren't supposed to count all that time you and your family spent running around cursing the innocent, rather than the guilty, are we?"

Draco felt himself tense up with rage, his skin flushing hot and cold all over. He was grateful for the fact that everyone had almost finished filing out before Cuthbertson-Davis had stopped him, and so they were now alone. The other man's eyes glittered with a smug glee, knowing that Draco could do nothing to defend himself without getting fired.

"And what about all the time I have spent doing everyone else's drudgery; putting up with all your shit, just to keep this fucking job? Have you any idea how much of a strain this has put on my relationship with my son's mother, with my son?"

Cuthbertson-Davis laughed, sharp and mocking. "I would have thought that all that time you spent face down in powder would have done all that damage for you," he said. "But maybe she's far stupider than anyone gave her credit for."

The world narrowed as white-hot anger flooded Draco's system. His hands trembled where they were clenched tight into fists at his side. He could feel his nails digging into his palms.

"If you walk out of that door, Malfoy," Cuthbertson-Davis said, and Draco realised he was halfway across the room, "then don't expect your desk to be here tomorrow."

Draco paused at the door, just long enough to consider breaking Cuthbertson-Davis' smug, inbred teeth against the stone floor, before twisting the handle open.

"Good," he said, and let the door slam behind him.

* * *

Draco was kind of excited, kind of nervous. The first thought that came to his mind after he walked out was that he should tell Arianwen. She wouldn't be expecting him — it wasn't his night with Llewyn, after all — but he knew that she would be upset with him if Harry or Ron told her first.

Apparating to the house, he let himself in.

"Arianwen?" He called. No answer. He strode through the hallway, pausing at the foot of the stairs.

"Arianwen?" He tried again, and heard movement on the landing.

"Draco?" Arianwen's head appeared over the bannister rail. "Is everything okay? Has something happened?" Draco stepped back as she started down the stairs, worried.

"I just quit my job," he said. "I actually did it!"

"Seriously?"

Draco beamed up at her, giddy with the decision he had finally made, and Arianwen made a delighted noise, bounding down the last few steps to throw her arms around him.

"That's amazing!" She said, and Draco breathed in the smell of her hair as he wrapped his own arms around her back.

"What's going on?" Said a familiar voice from the upstairs landing. Draco looked over Arianwen's head to see Gwyn's face over the bannister rail.

"Oh," he said, feeling all the happiness drain out of him. He looked back at Arianwen, only just noticing how dressed up she was. "I didn't realise you had company."

"What?" Said Arianwen, confused, as Draco stepped away. "Oh, no, it's not—"

"I didn't mean to intrude," Draco said, hearing how cold his voice had become and not able to stop himself. He had already started moving towards the door, without conscious instruction. "I'll see you on Saturday to pick up Llewyn."

"No, Draco," Arianwen said, starting after him, and Gwyn chimed in,

"Stay, come on,"

But Draco was already out the door.

Inside, Arianwen and Gwyn exchanged a confused look, but were interrupted before they could begin to dissect Draco's strange behaviour by Owain calling them from upstairs: "Oi you two, stop pissing about and get back in here!"

* * *

Draco went into the first bar he came across when he got to London. It was busy but not so loud that people couldn't talk to each other, and as such, there were clusters of people gathered around every table in the place, enjoying after-work drinks. He spotted a free seat at the bar and slumped down, ordering a firewshiskey: neat.

"Keep them coming," he grumbled to the barman after he downed the first glass in one. The barman must've been used to pathetic depressed losers, he thought bitterly, as he didn't even look up upon Draco's request, just supplied a new drink every time the glass went empty.

Seven drinks down and Draco's head was buzzing numbly. He didn't notice when someone pulled up the stool next to his.

"Draco?" A familiar voice said next to him. He turned his head and blinked a few times, trying to clear his bleary vision. They eventually focused in on the brunette his father was so desperate to set him up with.

"Astoria." he acknowledged flatly. "Want a drink?"

"Yes, yeah go on then, I'll have whatever you're having." She said carelessly, more than a few drinks in herself.

"Firewhiskey." He said, downing his drink and calling to the barman to pour one for his guest.

"So what brings you here?" Astoria asked, staring as the muscles tensed in his arm when he closed his fist around his glass. He'd rolled his sleeves up and unbuttoned his shirt part way, just enough to appreciate the thick muscles in his neck.

"Arianwen." He grunted.

"Oh," was all she could think of, disappointed by his answer. "What about her?"

"Playing games with me, as ever. Caught her with Gwyn, do you remember Gwyn _fucking_ Bedwyr?" He growled, his eyes aflame.

"Uh yeah, tha' guy she dated in sixth year?" Astoria asked, slurring slightly. Draco just nodded, returning his eyes to his drink.

"Do you remember when _we_ dated in sixth year?" She asked, a hint of flirtation in her tone. She'd been devastated when he dumped her, had always wanted to prove to him that he'd made a mistake. And now, with Arianwen firmly out of the picture, it was her chance.

He tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow at her curiously. "Vividly," he grinned.

She giggled, flipping her straight shoulder-length hair over her shoulder to reveal the plunging neckline of her top. "Me too," she whispered.

"Astoria Greengrass," he drawled, "I do believe you're flirting with me. Your parents would be so very disappointed."

She smirked, moving one of her hands to his knee. "Maybe. They think you're a bad influence."

He locked his eyes onto hers, enjoying how she held her breath when he leant in. Copying her move, he put his hand on her knee, then slid it up to the very height of her leg, his thumb pressing dangerously close to her bikini line. "The worst." He whispered into her ear, brushing his tongue against the lobe.

Unable to believe her luck, her entire body practically buzzed with excitement. Sure, their social standing had taken a nose dive since the war but snagging a Malfoy would always be a catch in her eyes and Lucius was paying through the nose for Draco to get caught.


	7. Chapter Seven: Turning the Page

**A/N: I know I know this is late - I'm sorry! I've been away on holiday and didn't think it would take me so long to get back to reality but, alas, I was struck with a gigantic case of writers block upon my return :(**

 **I was so surprised by the number of responses on the last chapter, thank you all so much for sticking with this story and letting me know your thoughts. Your reviews always make me smile, especially when it's like 'eyeroll - Draco being an idiot again!'. Because of you guys I managed to work through my writers block, so thank you!**

 **I'm going to have to be entirely honest and say I'm not going to be able to post on time (Tuesday) this week. I'm barely going to be at home so won't have time to write, but I'll try and get the next one posted on Saturday, then post again the following Tuesday to get us back on track. Fingers crossed I can make it work.**

 **Have a great week everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Turning the Page**

"Arianwen? Where are you?" Arianwen heard Draco's voice calling her distantly from inside her house.

"Draco? I'm in the garden!"

His head emerged a few moments later from behind the kitchen door. Seeing that she'd splayed herself out on the grass, he decided to go out and join her.

She moved over on the tweed blanket covering a small patch of the grass and patted the vacant spot, encouraging him to sit. "Where's Llewyn?" She asked as he arranged himself, arms extended out behind his back to support his weight.

"Gone to put his stuff away I think." Draco responded, looking ahead into the hills.

"Ah," Arianwen mused with a smile, "he does love unpacking."

Draco snorted and shook his head. Turning to look at her properly, Arianwen saw his eyes move from hers to her hair, then down the long braid to her waist, up again to her chest, her lips, back to her eyes - he coughed and looked away. The air between them became suddenly awkward and Arianwen found herself at a loss for what to say.

"Look!" She said suddenly, grasping on the opportunity that the newspaper in her lap afforded her. "The Catapults are holding open try-outs, you could put your name down!"

Draco cast a lazy glance at the article Arianwen was excitedly holding inches away from his face. He put his hand on top of the paper, pushing it back to the ground. "Nah I don't think so."

"What?!" Arianwen exclaimed, swivelling herself round so that she was sitting opposite Draco, their thighs touching. "But you'd be so good! Won't you just give it a go? I can guarantee you'll enjoy it!" She pleaded.

He looked at her, his frosty expression melting slightly, and rolled his eyes. "Merlin, Ri, calm down! I'm not trying out because I've already been offered a place with the Falcons." He said nonchalantly.

"Wait, what? You have? But when did you-? And they've already-? Oh my god, Draco, that's amazing!" She gushed.

"Thanks," he chuckled, allowing himself a half smile. "Tryouts were last week, they let me know the same day."

Arianwen clapped her hands together joyfully. "Amazing!" She repeated. "So are you playing seeker?"

He shook his head. "No the spot's already taken, there was just one chaser and a keeper position open, so I went for the chaser spot."

"Wow," Arianwen breathed, "so when's your first game? Can I come?"

He raised an eyebrow at her somewhat disbelievingly, though she didn't catch on to his less than friendly aura - too distracted by his news. "The first match is next month; bit soon, but we'll be practicing like crazy so hopefully we'll be alright."

Arianwen nodded, biting her lip. "What?" Draco asked, confused by her disappointed expression.

"It's just- I was just thinking it's a shame you didn't go for the Catapults, we would've been so close, could've seen more of each other." She said tentatively, lifting her gaze to try and read his. The Catapults were based in Caerphilly, much closer to where Arianwen and Llewyn lived in Carmarthenshire than the Falmouth Falcons.

Draco's expression didn't give anything away. He looked at her, his eyes distant. "I should go. I've got practice later."

"Right," Arianwen sighed, "I'll see you out."

"No need." He got to his feet quickly. "See you in the week."

The blonde watched him retreat, confused. They'd been getting on so well before, so very well, in fact, that she'd allowed her guard to fall. But it'd seemed like he was interested too, had she read it all wrong?

* * *

Draco waited impatiently at a small bistro-style table in a busy London restaurant. He looked down at his watch: 7.51pm - she was twenty minutes late! A couple at the table opposite had been casting him smug glances, whispering to each other over the table, probably betting on whether he'd been stood up. He glared angrily into his wine glass, wondering why he'd done this to himself.

About a week ago, he'd woken up in Astoria's hotel room, their clothes tossed carelessly across the room in their bid to undress each other as quickly as possible. She'd already been awake when he came to and, much to his amusement, had applied some make up while he was asleep, the most obvious of which being her favourite sticky pink lipgloss. He'd stayed on for round two.

"Sorry I'm late!" Though Astoria looked perfectly calm as she sauntered up to their table, making it clear that her lateness hadn't been accidental.

"That's alright." Draco assured her politely, pulling out her chair for her. "You look…nice."

She smirked at his choice of words, knowing fine well that 'nice' went no way to describe her form-fitting mini dress. They ordered fairly quickly, Draco opting for scallops and Astoria for a simple dish of chicken and new potatoes. A little voice in his head sneered at her choice: simple, tasteless, a reflection on its orderer? No, he told himself, she's a Greengrass, taste was practically built into her DNA.

"So," Astoria said in a would-be casual voice as she rolled a potato around her plate with her fork, "what's the deal with your family situation?"

Draco looked up quickly from his food, surprised. He found her watching him closely. "Uh- well I don't live with my parents anymore, I've got a flat here in the city, but I still see them quite regularly."

She rolled her dark brown eyes in response. "I didn't mean _that_ family."

"Ah." he let his cutlery rest on the edge of the plate and took a big swig of sauvignon before continuing. "Arianwen and I, we…" he struggled to think of something to say that wouldn't alienate the woman opposite.

"I was talking about your son," she hissed, looking to either side of their table in case anyone was listening in. Thankfully, they weren't

"He's not some kind of dirty secret," Draco said coolly, sitting back in his chair and fixing Astoria with a dangerous stare, "and the two go hand in hand, she's my family just as much as he is."

Astoria didn't like that answer. She wrinkled her nose in displeasure and continued on, "so what was the deal with that anyway, was she pregnant when we dated in school?"

Draco sighed internally, he supposed he couldn't realistically get angry with Astoria for trying to satisfy her curiosity, Draco and Arianwen's timeline was an area of interest for many. "No, she'd already had Llewyn before she came to Hogwarts. Her uncle disowned her because of it and banished her from her home, so she was forced to come to Hogwarts and keep the baby in the village."

"Right," Astoria said slowly, trying to process his version of events against her own lived experiences, "but when she first came to the school you didn't act like you knew her like that, and weren't you still sleeping with Pansy then?"

He raised his eyebrows. How the hell did she remember his sixth year in so much detail? "We didn't want people asking awkward questions so we decided it would be easier to pretend we didn't know each other, sleeping with Pansy was just an obvious way to keep up appearances."

"And Arianwen went along with that?" Astoria gaped, completely dumbfounded.

"Yes. She understood that too much was at stake." Was the snipped response.

The brunette's eyes narrowed. "So when we were dating you were…?"

"Broken up with Arianwen, yes." He finished for her, then continued in a gentler tone: "That bit was genuine, Astoria."

His new softer tone did nothing to calm her down. "Ucgh this is so complicated, I don't like it, I'm not interested in all that drama, Draco."

"My son is not drama!" He barked, causing the lady one table over to jump and knock her drink onto the floor. Whilst the waiters were rushing around trying to clear everything up, Draco turned back to Astoria and questioned, in hushed tones: "Why are you here then? You're not stupid, you know I have a son and that he comes with a certain amount of baggage, so why did you even approach me in that bar last week?"

Astoria, not liking the ferocity in his eyes, shrunk back in her chair before mumbling. "Well because I wanted to, we've always had a connection, you and me - at least I think so anyway." She looked at him hopefully, wanting him to reassure her that they did but his rigid posture showed he was only interested in hearing the answers to his questions. Hopefulness deflating, she admitted: "In all honesty, your father was trying to push a betrothal between our families, he's been throwing money at us left, right, and centre you know. My father thought it was pretty desperate at first, but I think he's come round to the idea since. And, as I said, I've always felt there's a kind of connection between us. Then I saw you in the bar last week, I'd had a few to drink obviously, but to be fair even if I was sober I think I would've still approached you."

Painfully, he didn't say anything so she pressed on to fill the silence. "So there you go, that's everything, full disclosure. The ball's in your court now, Malfoy!" She held a hand up in defeat. Quietly, the other one reached for her wine glass, downing the contents, and her dignity, in one swift gulp.

In considering her response his mind was cast back to his school days. Ever since he first met her, Arianwen's presence had been like this all-consuming explosion: beauty like he'd never recognised in anyone, intelligence to match his own, and always that fierce sense of love and protection - so much so that it had leaked into his own being; when he saw her now, playing with his son, he felt this overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around them, enclose them, protect them. But she didn't need him to love her or keep her safe, or do anything for her, actually; she'd proved she could go it alone. Besides, even on those lonely nights where the strongest and most independent of people are in need of a companion - she always had Gwyn.

His eyes came into focus, revealing the uneasy and yet hopeful expression of the objectively gorgeous Astoria Greengrass. She _did_ need him. He'd been so blinded by Arianwen that he hadn't even seen it.

"You know," he said finally, hand snaking its way across the table and resting on top of hers, "I feel that connection between us too."

She smiled triumphantly and moved her other hand on top of his, savouring the moment, but it wasn't long before her dark eyes took on a very different emotion. "Perhaps we should go and feel our connection somewhere else." She purred.

He smirked, maybe his father had had the right idea all along. "Waiter!" He gestured to the nearest member of the restaurant staff. "We'd like our coats."

* * *

A month later, the early May air brought with it a warm breeze, allowing Arianwen to wear only her jersey and a pair of jeans to Draco's first Quidditch match with the Falmouth Falcons. Llewyn was wearing an identical, though much smaller, jersey and took every opportunity to show any passerby the letters emblazoned on the back, reading 'MALFOY' in an arc and the number '5' underneath it. Much to the amusement of Arianwen, Llewyn hadn't quite grasped the rules of Quidditch yet, and so settled for clapping and occasionally shouting: "Daddy!" when he spotted Draco in the air.

The Falcons' game was played exceptionally well and by the end they had won by 260 - 70 against the Appleby Arrows. The stadium in Falmouth was relatively small and emptied quickly, so Arianwen and Llewyn were able to make their way down to the players' dressing rooms before they left. She rolled her eyes at the small gaggle of fan girls that had gathered outside of the Arrows' dressing room and noted with some relief that there were no such fans on the Falcons' end, perhaps because they were generally always last in the league.

She pushed her way through the changing room doors, Llewyn following behind, and squeaked as she was met with a mass of undressed or at least partially undressed men. "Oooop!" She covered her hand with her mouth, then decided it would be better used in front of her eyes.

"Oi oi!" One of the men ogled.

"Well what have we got here?" Another began gleefully.

"Daddy!" Llewyn exclaimed from behind her legs. She heard the scuttling sound of him running past her and then a familiar deep voice greeting the small boy with delight.

"Ri? What are you doing in here?" The voice laughed in her ear, the rich sound causing the hairs on her body to stand on end in turn, like a Mexican wave.

She removed her hand from her eyes carefully and once satisfied that her vision was blocked by him and Llewyn, let it fall down by her side. Draco was holding Llewyn on his hip and was only dressed from the waist down: a combination of visuals that turned Arianwen into a flustering mess. She blushed deeply and stuttered in a high-pitched voice, "I thought you'd like to show Llewyn around a bit."

He looked amused but not all too unhappy with her reaction. Looking back at the doorway, glowing like the gates of heaven, she bounded towards her escape. "Okay so I'm gonna' go wait outside... Okay bye."

* * *

Draco found Arianwen sitting on a bench a short walk away from the changing rooms, her eyes fixed on the vibrant green pitch in front of her. She turned at the sound of his footsteps crunching on the gravel path and stood up, smiling, when she saw him.

Her smile faltered when she realised he was alone. "Where's Llewyn?"

"He's with the guys," Draco said calmly, "he wanted to see all of their brooms."

"Oh," Arianwen breathed, her smile returning. "Hi, by the way." She closed the gap he'd left between them and gave him a tight hug, her head resting on his newly clothed chest. Surprised as ever by her affection but still jubilant from his recent victory, he hugged her back. "You were amazing!" She said into his chest.

"I wouldn't go that far, I'm still pretty rusty. Thanks for coming though, you really didn't have to." he said warmly, giving her a little squeeze.

She pulled away slightly, and lifted her head so that she could see his face. With sparkling eyes, she said, "No really, Draco, you were incredible." A few tears started to leak from her eyes and Draco, completely, taken aback, began wiping them away gently.

"Hey, hey, what's this all about?" He questioned softly, wondering what on earth had changed in the ten minutes since she'd gone outside.

She sniffed; coupled with her puffy lips and big sad eyes, she had the look of a lost puppy. "I'm just so proud of you!" She whimpered, fresh tears spurting out.

"Awh, Ri," he laughed, pulling her in again for a warm hug, "you have got to be the most adorable person I've ever met."

She giggled into his chest, realising how ridiculous she was being. "What about Llewyn?"

He tilted his head to the side, a smile playing on his lips. "That's different."

She smiled back and for a few moments they just stood there, enjoying each other's warmth and basking in the glow of Draco's victory. As much as she wanted it to the moment didn't last forever and eventually they parted and began walking back to the changing rooms to find Llewyn.

"So Llewyn and I were wondering if you want to spend the rest of the day at home with us?" Arianwen invited. "We're planning to set up a den in the garden and thought we'd have a barbecue, and maybe watch the stars later on if it stays clear like this."

"Sounds fun," Draco said without hesitation, "but the team have invited me to the pub for some post-match drinks and I already said I'd go."

Arianwen tried to hide her disappointment. "Oh okay, fair enough, that sounds like a good plan too. I'll just see you next time then?"

"Yeah okay," he shrugged, uninterested, "I might have to get Mother to pick Llewyn up though, 'cause I might be late out of practice, but I'll make sure one of us is there on time, don't worry."

"No, yeah, I won't." Not knowing what else to do, she changed the subject. "Are you going to the May Ball?"

He pushed open the doors to the changing rooms and distracted, responded. "Yeah should be, I'll see you there."

"Yeah," Arianwen mimicked as Draco grabbed his stuff, gave Llewyn a kiss, and began exiting the room, "see you."

The door flapped shut behind him, leaving an entirely confused and more than a little disappointed Arianwen to try and piece together the enigma that was Draco Malfoy.


	8. Chapter Eight: Bringing Sexy Back

**A/N: Evening, all! Here's another chapter for you - bit of bed time (or any other time, depending where you are in the world) reading :)**

 **Your reviews were very welcomely received once again - thank you! I'm getting the impression that a lot of you are annoyed with how irrational and generally Malfoy-like Draco is being. Sorry about that folks, he's on a learning curve but he'll get there eventually (we hope).**

 **Have a great week. Bea x**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: Bringing Sexy Back**

"Ron is completely jealous, not that he'll admit it." Hermione said disapprovingly. She, Ginny, and Arianwen were seated comfortably at the bar adjacent to the main ballroom where the Ministry's May Ball was in full swing, and the girls were hounding Arianwen for the latest gossip.

"Harry is too." Ginny chimed in. "He was jealous enough when _I_ started playing in the league, let alone Malfoy! And the papers seem to be warming to him too."

"Yeah it helps when he keeps winning, I just hope they can keep their momentum up." The welsh woman sounded worried, causing the other two to exchange knowing glances.

"So was he happy to see you at his first match?" Hermione probed carefully.

Arianwen chewed the edge of her cheek as she tried to figure out if he had been pleased or not. "I honestly don't know, it was a bit of a weird situation."

Ginny leaned forward, martini in hand. "Weird how?"

"Well I took Llewyn down to their changing rooms to surprise Draco, and when I went in he was only half finished getting dressed-"

"Ooh which half? We need details please!" The redhead interrupted eagerly.

"His top half!" Arianwen squeaked, blushing. "And then he picked Llewyn up, and he's really bulked up recently you know, and the two of them are always so excited to see each other, it was so cute-"

"I'm surprised your ovaries didn't explode then and there!" Hermione teased, gaining an appreciative cackle from Ginny.

"Honestly I thought I was going to burst! And then I was in such a tiz that I literally ran out and then he came and found me later and I started CRYING! What the hell is wrong with me?!" The blonde moaned into her hands.

The girls looked visibly pained, empathising with Arianwen's moment of panic as if it had been them embarrassing themselves in front of their ex. "Oh Merlin, you cried? Why?" Ginny questioned, trying to stifle her laughter.

"I don't know, I just got all emotional, he's been doing so well lately-"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You're such a sap." Hermione gave her a pointed look but Ginny ignored her, she wasn't as close with Arianwen as Ginny was and didn't know how high Arianwen's tolerance for teasing was.

"So what did he do when you started crying?" Hermione asked, looking sympathetically at her friend.

"He was lovely as always," Ginny snorted disbelievingly but Arianwen ignored her and carried on, "gave me a hug and said something about finding me adorable."

Ginny's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Adorable? Like some kind of pet?"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that," Hermione cut in quickly. "And how has it been since then?"

Arianwen shrugged. "Well it ended on a weird note, and ever since then he's just been a bit off with me."

"So this was what, two or three weeks ago?" Ginny asked thoughtfully. Arianwen nodded the affirmative. "And have you been making it clear that you want him back?"

The blonde sat up straight in her chair. "Who said I want him back?"

The two exchanged glances again. "It's kind of obvious, to be honest." Hermione said in an almost apologetic tone.

"Ucgh." Arianwen took a large gulp of her cocktail. She was about to say something scathing in response when a presence at the bar had all three women momentarily frozen in their seats.

Draco didn't notice them at first, ordering a whiskey sour and a large glass of elderberry wine, though when he leaned his back against the bar and quietly surveyed the room, his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the three women staring to his right. "Arianwen!" He greeted in surprise, his expression a little tense. He looked behind him, then back again, and said: "I didn't realise you were coming. You look nice."

"Uh, thanks?" She said, unsure. He pulled on his collar awkwardly and a minute later Arianwen realised why. An arm had snaked its way around Draco's, followed by a wealthy accent saying in honeyed tones: "Ah, Arianwen, long time no see. I trust you've been keeping well?"

All three women gaped at the couple in front of them. So many thoughts and questions had exploded in Arianwen's mind that she forgot to respond, too focused on the dark cloud that was quickly consuming her good mood. When the silence had dragged on longer than was comfortable, Ginny elbowed her into speaking. "Ahem," the blonde cleared her throat, then as if this new revelation had been completely ordinary, said in a business-like tone. "Yes, very well thank you." She didn't bother to ask how Astoria was, uninterested in the response, and moved her eyes slowly onto Draco - her expression sending cool chills down his spine - and twitched an eyebrow upwards questioningly.

"I was going to tell you last week but you were in a rush." He said quickly. Astoria drew her body closer to him, causing Arianwen's lip to curl ever so slightly, a move only Draco noticed.

"Not a problem, I'm sure there were absolutely no other opportunities. I hope you both enjoy your evening." She said smoothly, and twisted her body delicately to the right, informing them that they had been dismissed.

"Honestly!" Astoria complained loudly as Draco pulled her away, muttering for her to be quiet.

Hermione and Ginny watched Arianwen's expression change from polite indifference to complete fury within seconds of the new couple returning to the ballroom. "What the fuck." Was all she could say.

Ginny shook her head bitterly. "He never ceases to amaze me. I actually can't believe he just brought her here, knowing full well that you'd be coming! And that BS about him trying to tell you - what a coward!"

Despite agreeing with everything Ginny had just said, Arianwen couldn't help but snap back: "He's not a coward!"

Hermione held her hands up in a 'calm down' gesture, to which Arianwen responded with a sniff, and looked around for some way to save the conversation. "Well it looks like you have some competition. What are you going to do?"

Arianwen was about to say she didn't know when Ginny cut in. "She's going to show him exactly what he's missing!"

The blonde laughed despairingly, rubbing her temples. "How am I meant to do that? He said I look 'nice'!"

The younger woman looked her up and down, her nose wrinkling in disgust for the second time that evening. "Yeah that's a massive overstatement, you look like a frumpy housewife."

Hermione was astounded. "Ginny! Not helping!"

"No it's okay," Arianwen patted Hermione's hand reassuringly, then looked determinedly back at Ginny. "What do I have to do?"

* * *

Draco's mind was buzzing happily under the influence of a few too many drinks. He was at Blaise's mother's latest engagement party but had managed to escape with the younger crowd to the smoking room at the back of the house. Astoria had insisted she go with him as his date but had left his side pretty quickly to go and chat with her old school friends, and as he didn't feel much like socialising he found himself sitting alone on a lumpy leather armchair in the corner.

The ice cubes clinked against the walls of the whiskey glass as he swirled its contents around absentmindedly, eyes and thoughts trained instead on the radiant blonde he'd managed to alienate yet again. She laughed prettily at a joke Gwyn made, and in allowing him to put his arm over her shoulders, looked more comfortable in his presence than ever. To his utmost frustration, she'd dressed much more daringly than usual and wore a long merlot coloured dress that was tight around her chest, waist, and hips, revealing that deliciously curved silhouette that could drive him into complete despair. Thankfully though, she'd worn her hair up in it's usual smooth knot, so he didn't have to face his frequent fantasy of running his hands through her hair, pushing it to the side slightly as he placed tantalisingly slow kisses in a trail along her neck-

"Alright mate?" Blaise's velvety voice asked as he flumped himself down in the chair next to Draco's. The blonde tore his eyes reluctantly from Arianwen; he'd just been at the part where she was going to start undoing her dress, her soft green eyes asking him to finish what she'd started.

"Yeah, not too bad, you?" He finally responded.

Blaise shrugged nonchalantly. "Good enough. Just trying to avoid my mother, really. You'd have thought she'd be over the whole 'bridezilla' thing by now."

Draco snorted and fixed his old friend with a wry smile. "Well I think you'll be pretty safe over here, I haven't had any human contact in at least an hour."

It was Blaise's turn to snort. He looked Draco up and down; he always had a way about him, an heir that allowed any piece of furniture to look as though it was unworthy to have his arse sat upon it. Even now, with his body slumped, his tie forgotten and his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow, the Malfoy heir still looked like some kind of displaced prince.

"You gonna' show up to this wedding this time then?" He asked, his tone playful. Though Blaise's wedding taken place years ago it didn't stop Draco from squirming internally: he'd made Arianwen go to Blaise's wedding alone while he went out on another drug-fuelled binge.

Rather than continue to wallow in his past mistakes though, he responded in kind. "Ahh I dunno', is there much point or should I just show up for the funeral?"

A deep belly-laugh escaped Blaise's lips, his mother's numerous past husbands had a habit of dying a year or so after she'd married them. Draco smirked, pleased that his relationship with his best friend could be repaired so easily.

"So," Blaise began innocently, "which name should I put down as your date for the wedding?"

Draco didn't make eye contact. "Astoria, I would imagine."

Blaise's eyes followed the path that Draco's gaze had created, landing foreseeably on a certain Arianwen Gwydion. "Or you could stop playing games and bring the girl you really want."

Draco scoffed, looking down at his hands. "She doesn't want me, not after everything." He admitted, his voice betraying more emotion than he would've liked.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Blaise said simply, watching Arianwen approach the doors to the patio. "Go and talk to her."

"And say what?" Draco shook his head. "There's nothing left for me there. Besides, I've moving on, there's no sense in taking a step backwards now."

Blaise fixed his friend with a pointed stare. "Moving on? You're never going to be able to move on from that one, mate."

Draco sighed, there was no point arguing with Blaise when he thought he was right. Pushing himself up from the chair, he muttered that he'd be back and then followed in Arianwen's wake.

* * *

He found her on the patio, holding the stem of a champagne glass to her chest and titling her head from side to side, gazing into the sky.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, coming to stand next to her and copying the motion of her head.

"Trying to find the dragon." Her voice was soft, unguarded; entirely different to how she'd sounded at the May Ball. She stopped tracing constellations and looked at the man in front of her instead. "Found him," she said with a little smile.

He chuckled at her pun: the dragon constellation holding the same name as his own. "So cheesy."

"I try."

He could never understand how she could be so pleasant to him after he'd fucked up, it was one of her many endearing qualities. He just wished he didn't need to rely on it so much.

"I'm sorry."

She sighed and finished off her champagne, placing the empty glass down on an unnecessarily ornate garden table, where it vanished instantaneously. "What if I'd brought Llewyn, would that have been how he'd have to find out that you have a girlfriend?"

How did she know that Astoria was his girlfriend? Bloody gossipers! He thought angrily.

"I know. I've fucked it once again," his tone was bitter, "but in my defence it's not something that's easy to tell you - either of you."

Arianwen crossed her arms over her chest. "That's a shit defence."

"Yeah," he agreed in defeat. He looked deep into her eyes, finding obvious disappointment and… betrayal, perhaps? It reminded him of his own feelings of betrayal. "So while we're on the subject," his voice took on a new heat, "when were you going to tell me about Gwyn?"

"What _about_ Gwyn?" She questioned, bemused.

"Well you're seeing him again, aren't you?" She blinked, brow furrowed, but didn't say anything. He carried on: "Did you think it was fun for me to walk in on the two of you? And to use your point, how is it okay that Llewyn gets to see him all the time and yet you have a go at me for-"

"Oh my god you cannot be serious!" She interrupted hotly. "Have we gone back in time or something? Is that what this is? Have you slipped a time turner round my neck and I've somehow missed it?" He glared back and opened his mouth ready to retort but she continued before he could. "That night you 'walked in on us' - that was a gathering to celebrate Gwyn's _engagement_. The whole group was there but only Gwyn came out to find me! He's here tonight with his _fiance,_ haven't you seen them together?" She paused for breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Deciding to change tack, she closed the distance between them and slid her hands into his, holding them up to her chest.

"Draco," she beseeched, "after everything we've been through - you need to get it in your head that I will _never_ choose Gwyn over you."

She could see the cogs turning in his mind, see his eyes soften to her, see - regret?

"Merlin, Ri," he breathed, "I miss you so much." He lifted her hands up to his mouth and kissed them, rubbing the spot that he'd kissed with his thumbs tenderly.

"I'm right here," she whispered, the melancholy of the moment closing her throat up. She knew that she was condemned to wait for him for as long as it took, she just needed to find the courage to convey it to him. "Draco, I-"

A windowpane above them smashed suddenly, shards of glass to falling around them like glitter. "Watch out!" Draco pulled her by the arm back to the patio doors and pushed her through, trying to protect her from the glass.

Once inside he retreated back to his armchair, cursing whatever had caused that window to break.

* * *

Astoria's back was pushed up against the wardrobe in whoever's bedroom she'd taken over in the Zabini's house, the man kissing her eager to get more.

"Slow down," she turned her head to the side to escape his fervent kisses. "Someone will hear us!"

"So?" The man responded, trying to glue his mouth back onto hers. "Maybe it's time they all knew about us."

A hard slap to the cheek informed him that maybe it wasn't.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I _need_ to marry Draco: if I don't marry well my family will disown me!" She hissed, moving further away from the door in the hope of protecting their conversation from the numerous party guests.

"What about 'true love' and all that?" The guy asked, offended.

Astoria resolve diminished slightly, and she put her hands on either side of his cheeks. "True love can happen in time, pudding, but I need to have established myself first. Once we're married, I'll be in line to the Malfoys' fortune and Draco can have a little…accident. Then I'll get the money and be free to marry you! Society won't care about your blood status then - no one can judge a widow!"

The man appeared to be thinking hard and eventually said: "But no one cares about blood status anymore!"

Astoria tutted sympathetically, as though trying to teach something simple to an intellectually challenged child. "No, pudding, that's just what people say but deep down everyone still bases their judgements on it, it's a prejudice that isn't just going to be neutralised overnight."

The man huffed. "Alright fine, then what do I need to do to hurry this whole thing up?"

The brunette's attention was grabbed by figures moving outside the window and she moved closer instinctively to get a better look. To her horror, it was Draco and Arianwen: they appeared to be having an argument but it quickly changed and he then was looking at her open-mouthed, like she were some kind of angel sent from the heavens above.

"You need to get her out of the picture." She said, jabbing a bitter finger at Arianwen. "She's doing everything she can to get in the way of my relationship with Draco. And if she succeeds-"

"-We can't be together." The man finished for her, the penny finally dropping. "What do you want me to do?"

"Collect information on her." Astoria said, waving her hands as if said information was going to materialise into them. "You need to find out her dirty secrets and get proof of them too! If we can ruin her reputation enough he won't want her in his life, he's dead set on becoming the golden boy again, he won't want anything messing that up for him."

"Alright," the man agreed, "how soon do you think-"

Astoria gasped suddenly, causing her lover to stop in his tracks. "Is everything alright, my love?"

"She's trying to get him to kiss her!" She shrieked.

"Not today, petal! Stand back!" He grabbed a heavy signet ring from the dresser and lobbed it at the window-pane, the glass breaking easily under its pressure. "Duck!" He hissed, shooing Astoria towards the door.

As she descended the stairs and slid back into the main throng of the party, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. That man is _vile_ , she thought, but a necessary evil for the time being. For once she had Draco firmly locked into marriage she wasn't going to let him go again, she just had to make that idiotic man think it so he'd help get rid of _her -_ her dark eyes narrowed as Arianwen's obnoxious laughter rung in her ears. And the sooner the better.


End file.
